The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki
by MarkusK
Summary: Naruto delved deeper into The Forbidden Scroll, and he uncovered a secret left by The Yondaime. It led him to discover his inheritance, but will he become strong enough to alter the fate of the Leaf Village? Naru/Hina.
1. Chapter 1: The Riddle

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: This is my first fanfic, but I plan on it being very long. It is rated M for Language, violence, and some future content. Couples other than Naru/Hina are likely, and there will be limes. There will be no harem, and no, I repeat, NO lemons. It's not that I don't like them, it's just- Ya know what, just go to my profile, you can find my reasons there. So, without further ado, Chapter One of The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

**Chapter One: The Riddle**

He just couldn't believe how _easy_ it had been to take the scroll. He knew that it was usually guarded by at least four ANBU, but nobody was there when he got there. He just assumed that Mizuki had told them that he could use it and that it would be in good hands, and that they could take the night off. He was already at one of the training grounds, so it was too late to turn back now anyway. He unraveled the scroll and started to go through the multitude of jutsu. After several minutes, he came to the end of the writing on the scroll. There he found what seemed like a riddle that seemed to be directions to a vault. Figuring that there may be something useful in the vault, he started copying it down a spare scroll. When he finished, he rolled it up and and put into his pants pocket. Once that was settled, he took a look back through The Forbidden Scroll and picked out some of the cooler sounding ones. He realized though, that he would probably only have time to learn one before somebody came to the training grounds to train. He started practicing the first jutsu in the scroll.

Several hours passed before he heard the sound of labored breathing behind him. It startled him because it had appeared so suddenly and it was even louder than his. He turned around with a grin and sweat pouring down his face. There stood Iruka, panting and looking at him with a look of confusion. "Oh, Hey Iruka-sensei, how's it going. I just finished up learning one of the jutsu in the scroll, so if you want you can train with it yourself. There are some really awesome ju-".

"JUST WHAT IN KAMI'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!", Iruka blasted into Naruto's face, using the head expansion jutsu that he had learned just to keep unruly students in line. "Why the hell did you steal the Forbidden Scroll? Do you realize that every ninja in the village is after you because of what you've done?", Iruka was flustered to say the least.

"B-But, Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei said that if I was able to take the scroll and learn a jutsu from it that I would be a genin. So that's what I did, I've already got one jutsu down, so that means that I'm a genin now right? When do I get my hitai-ate sensei, can we go get it now?", Naruto asked a little nervously.

"Oh, they'll give you your hitai-ate alright, but only right before they put you in the ground!" They heard a voice say from behind them.

Iruka turned around to see Mizuki standing on a branch of a tree, spinning a large shuriken in his hand, "Mizuki, what is the meaning of this? Do you really plan on betraying us? What would you have to gain from this?", Iruka was stunned by the malice that was in Mizuki's voice.

"You have no idea Iruka, I have everything to gain from this!", He threw the spinning shuriken right towards Iruka. Naruto looked on in horror at what was happening in front of him. Iruka was leaning over him with a look of anguish on his face. It was hard to see, but he could tell that the shuriken was imbedded in his back. "Iruka-sensei, why didn't you dodge, why didn't you get out of the way?"

"Because Naruto, If I had, you would have been hit yourself. As your teacher and as someone that cares for you, I didn't want you to get hurt.", Iruka coughed up blood, which splattered over Naruto's terrified face.

"Ha, that's the biggest load of bullshit that I've ever heard. Iruka doesn't care about you, nobody cares about you, they all _hate_ you. The village hates you, even the Hokage hates you", Mizuki was laughing maniacally now, not caring if anybody heard.

"No that's not true Naruto, I care about you as if you were the little brother I've never had, I could never hate you."

"Keep spouting out that crap, Iruka, and you might actually convince him of that someday, if you live that long that is!" Mizuki couldn't help it, it was all just so funny to him, "I'll tell you why everybody hates you Naruto. They're afraid of you, of what's inside of you."

"No, Mizuki, don't tell him, It is forbidden!", Iruka was desperately trying to get up and dislodge the shuriken.

"Wait, what's inside me, why aren't I supposed to know? Tell me!", Naruto said, desperately trying to figure out what they meant.

Just as Mizuki was about to speak, Iruka threw the shuriken back at Mizuki, who easily dodged it with a sidestep and caught it. "I'll tell you why. It's because all of those years ago, the Kyuubi wasn't killed. It was sealed away inside of a newborn infant. That baby was you Naruto! You are the Kyuubi!", Naruto had started to back away, by now he was almost to the other side of the clearing, shaking his head with tears flowing down his face. "Now die, demon!", Mizuki threw the shuriken that he had just caught back towards Naruto, who had started running away. After Naruto dodged behind a tree, he took off.

Naruto flew through the trees trying to sort things out. It was all starting to make sense, the villagers abuse and neglect was all because he was the demon in human form. After what seemed like hours of him bounding from branch to branch, he heard the sound of branches crashing behind him. He jumped to the forest floor and sat down on the outward side of a tree on the edge of a clearing, trying to stifle his heavy panting. He heard two people land in the clearing. The familiar voices spoke, "Just give it up Iruka, he's gone and he's taken the scroll with him. The demon will use the scroll to destroy the village, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it."

"No, you're wrong, I believe in him, he would never do anything like that.", Naruto heard Iruka defending him, saying that he wasn't the demon that everyone seemed to think he was. He was just a kid who was lonely and in pain.

"Oh please, he's nothing but the monster inside of him. And for protecting him, you will die first", Mizuki threw his last shuriken at Iruka. Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared and caught the giant shuriken on one of the blades without even flinching. "If you ever try to hurt one of my precious people again, _I'll tear your head off!_", he said, raising his head. It was hard to tell from in the darkness, but if one were to look closely, they would see a pair of red eyes staring at Mizuki.

"Like you could do anything to me, I'm a chunin and you're just an academy student, you don't even know how to catch a shuriken without getting hurt." He had raised his right hand to point at Naruto and started laughing at him.

Multiple things happened at once. Naruto suddenly disappeared from in front of them, Mizuki felt a blast of pain from his raised hand, and a tree fell down to the left of Mizuki. He screamed out in pain and fell to his knees. He looked down to where he was cradling his arm to see nothing but a bloody stump. "What did you do you bastard, where are you?!"

"Right here teme", both Iruka and Mizuki turned there heads to see Naruto standing on a branch of a tree above the clearing. "You cut off my hand, I'll kill you!", Mizuki screamed.

"Just try it, I'll send it back a thousandfold!", he raised his hands in what would soon become his signature cross, **"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**, There were suddenly hundreds of clones of Naruto on the ground and in the trees surrounding the clearing. Echoing all around them, **"Get ready, 'cause here I come!"**

"No, get away, AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" *THUD* *SMACK* *CRACK* *SNAP*

* * *

After dropping off Mizuki at T & I, and Iruka at the hospital, Naruto headed off to the Hokage's Tower with an escort of ANBU. They were ordered by the Sandaime to allow him to hold onto the scroll until it was handed of directly to him. He couldn't see it through the masks, but he could tell just by the look in their eyes that they were sneering at him the whole way there. _'Why does this brat get special treatment? If it had been anybody else that had taken the scroll, they would have been locked up in T & I with that traitor Mizuki',_ were the general thoughts of the ANBU when they heard that not only was he getting off the hook, but also that he was going to actually be promoted for what he had done.

As they entered the Hokage's office, Naruto thought he saw the glimmer of a glass object disappear underneath the desk. Thinking nothing of it, he proceeded, "Hey there Jījī-san, I brought your scroll back for ya.", he placed the Forbidden Scroll on the desk.

"Watch your mouth _boy_, show proper respect t-", started one of the ANBU.

Raising a hand to silence him, Hiruzen calmly ordered, "That will be enough, ANBU-san. I can take it from here, you may leave."

"Hai, Hokage-sama.", with a last glance at Naruto, the ANBU shunshinned away.

Hiruzen, ignoring Naruto for the moment, inspected the scroll, checking for any damage before laying it beneath his desk. He turned his eyes to Naruto finally, who flinched under his stern gaze, "Now, Naruto-kun, why did you go along with Mizuki without even asking another teacher if what he had told you was true? You surely aren't naive enough to just believe whatever anybody says, a ninja must see through deception."

"I'm sorry J- , Hokage-sama. I just wanted to be a genin so bad that I was willing to believe him. Trust me, I'll look before I leap next time, believe it!", He started out nervous, but by the end was back to his regular self, and had a big smile on his face.

*sigh*, "Okay Naruto, just be more careful from now on. Remember, you and the rest of your class will be gathering at the Academy to be split into teams. It starts at 2:00, so you better get some rest and change before then. You are dismissed.", he said, a smile on his face.

"Thanks for reminding me, have a good day Jījī-san!", Naruto barely contained his happiness as he was leaving the office, trying to stop himself from cheering and hugging everyone he saw. As soon as he exited the building, he jumped in the air and cheered, gaining the attention of everyone outside and glares from most of them. Not caring at all, He kept cheering and started sprinting home, earning a few shouts from people telling him to be quiet or they'd have him arrested. Nothing could get him down today though. '_I'm a genin, I'm finally a genin! That means I'm just one step closer to becoming Hokage._'

Hiruzen stood at the window and watched him as he left. '_Nothing can keep you down for long, can it Naruto-kun._' "Shoki-san, could you call the hospital and ask what room Iruka Umino is in?", Hiruzen called to his secretary. '_I just hope that whatever it was that you got out of that scroll, it wasn't dangerous Naruto. If some of the secrets inside got into the wrong hands, it could mean disaster for Konoha._'

As Naruto got back to his apartment, He found some rather crude words along with the word 'demon' spray-painted onto and around his door. Sighing, he made a mental note to repaint it tomorrow. He unlocked the door and relocked it, remembering the last time it had been left unlocked. Some drunk had broken in and had relieved himself on Naruto as he slept, and then passed out on top of Naruto, waking him up. Needless to say, he had remembered to lock the door every night since. Eating a quick meal of Insta-Ramen and taking a shower, he got changed and decided to take a nap considering that he had been up practicing all night. He threw his old clothes on the floor and fell into bed.

* * *

After being assigned to team 7 and being told about the test tomorrow, he went home to see if he could catch up on some of the sleep he had missed last night. After locking the door behind him and taking off his sandals at the door, he started to search for the light switch, but slipped and and fell after stepping on an empty bowl. He had stepped on it too hard and had broken it, causing a shard of it to go into his foot. He sat there for awhile in the darkness nursing a bump on his head and trying to stop his foot from bleeding. He realized that he should probably take out the shard, and he couldn't do it with the light off.

After finding the light switch and a pair of tweezers, he pulled it out with a grimace, reminding himself that this pain was nothing and that he had felt far worse before. He looked around his apartment, '_Man, I really gotta clean up around here, I definitely don't want that to happen again_.' Getting to work, he was careful to not put much pressure on his foot, but by the time that he got to his bedroom it didn't even hurt anymore when he put weight on it. He was putting his clothes in the washer when he noticed a bulge in one of the pockets of a pair of pants. He took the forgotten scroll out of the pocket and instantly remembered what it was. The laundry forgotten, he headed back to his room and sat down at the small desk and turned on the small reading light. Opening it up he reread the message left in the Forbidden Scroll.

_To any reading this, know that I am most likely dead, and that if you can solve the riddle and enter the vault, then my inheritance is yours. _

_Yondaime_

He couldn't believe it, he had found a secret message left behind by the Fourth Hokage. '_What could he possibly mean by the vault?_', he read on.

_When the world is painted red_  
_And your friends are thinking of bed_  
_Look into the soul_  
_On the Flash's head_

'_Well, the first two lines are kinda easy. When the world is red and people are thinking of bed would be sunset right?_', "Kami, what do the other lines mean though?! What kind of flash has a head or a soul?"

_At the end of the light  
__You must share your might_  
_Watch out for the paper and ink  
Or you'll never see another fight  
_

'_None of that made any sense at all, why should I be afraid of paper?_'

_From the union of yellow and red  
Orange blood need be bled_  
_Inside you will find  
The tools to take our stead_

'_Yeah, red and yellow make orange, but I've never heard of orange blood before, maybe it comes from some kind of special jutsu._' After reading what seemed to be a bunch of nonsense, he was tempted to throw it away, but stopped himself when he remembered where it had come from and who had written it. With his head now swimming from trying to decipher the riddle, Naruto put the scroll away and went to bed, trying to figure out just what it all meant.

* * *

Waking up and eating breakfast, he was changing from his pajamas to his jumpsuit when he remembered where he was supposed to be. '_Crap, I'm late, if Sakura doesn't kill me, then Kakashi-sensei definitely will. Gotta run, gotta run._' Naruto bolted out of his apartment putting on his coat and holding his hitai-ate between his teeth. As he was tying it onto his forehead, he started to remember when he got it yesterday.

...

_"I'm proud of you Naruto, you've finally proven that your ready to be a ninja. Now close your eyes, I've got a gift for you.", Iruka said. Naruto did, soon feeling a soon to be familiar and comfortable feeling on his forehead. "You can open your eyes now."_

...

He was brought out of his memories when he ran into someone. '_Great, I don't have time to waste with any bigots right now, I really need to get going_', "Sorry pal, I don't have time for a fight right now, I'm in a bit of a hurry. So if you don't mind, stay the hell out of my way", He was saying as he was getting up and starting to head off.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked back too see that the person that he had run into was in fact, one Hyuga heiress. "Oh, sorry Hinata, didn't see ya there.", He held out his hand offering to help her back up. This action only served to cause her face too turn a bright shade of red and her bringing her fingers together. "Well, are you gonna get up or do you plan on sitting down there all day?", she was brought out of her nervous thoughts when he spoke to her again.

"Oh r-right, I'm s-sorry for making you wait N-Naruto-kun.", she quickly got up with his help and stood there, feeling very happy for some reason.

"Hinata, can I have my hand back now? As I said I'm in a bit of a hurry.", She looked down to discover the source of her happiness was because she was still holding onto his hand. She let go with an *eep* and backed up a couple feet, twiddling her index fingers together in front of her, and if it was even possible, her face was even redder. "Okay then, see ya later Hinata.", Naruto said with a wave as he ran off. '_Jeez, what's with her, she was acting like Sakura does whenever Sasuke actually talks to her. Whatever, it's probably just a girl thing._'

As he got close to the place where they were supposed to meet, he was relieved to see that Kakashi hadn't arrived yet. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late, but I kind of woke up late. Ya see, I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before last and I guess my body was trying to catch up. Anyway, I was up for about two hours trying to figure out this really c- OW! Hey, Sakura what was that for?", He was nursing the second bump on his head that he had gotten in the last dozen hours.

"I don't care why you're late, baka, just get here on time next time! Now Sasuke, what were you saying before_ Naruto_ interrupted?" Sakura swooned over Sasuke.

"Oh sorry. Anyway, what were you talking about?" Naruto apologized, knowing that if he didn't, he would earn another hit to the head.

"Huh, forget it, dobe, It doesn't concern you anyway." Sasuke turned away and put his hands in his pockets.

"Cha, now look what you've done, you've put him in a bad mood!", Sakura was ready to let loose on the blonde.

"What, were you two planning your future together or something.", he said, puckering his lips up like he was kissing, just taunting them.

"Not at all, dobe, we were just saying how if we get sent back to the academy, it will definitely be your fault.", Sasuke had a smirk on his face as he turned to look at Naruto.

"Oh yeah teme, you wanna say that again? I don't speak emo.", Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, rolling up his sleeves.

Sakura, meanwhile, was stuck fantasizing over how Sasuke would look in a tuxedo, and how she'd look standing next to him in a wedding dress.

They were brought out of their actions though, when they heard someone speak. "Yo! Sorry I'm late guys, but a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way here.", seeing the looks they were all giving each other, he sighed, '_This isn't gonna be fun_', "Alright, alright, settle down everybody."

"But Kakashi-sensei, Naruto started it. He was almost as late as you were.", Sakura whined, hoping that she would be able to get Naruto kicked out of the team early on, and that it would just be her and Sasuke.

"I see.", Kakashi said, raising an eyebrow in surprise, "Well then, he's already started out better than you two.", All three of them looked at him in surprise.

"But Sensei, shouldn't he be punished for being late.", Sakura was just confused now.

"Normally, yes, but a ninja must see through deception, and I was deceiving you when I told you to come this early.", Sakura just put on a look of pouting, Sasuke quickly fixed his expression and looked away with a frown. Naruto just put on his telltale goofy grin. "It was just to make you weaker and make this test more difficult."

"By the way sensei, what is the test anyway?", her look of disappointment replaced by one of curiosity.

Kakashi took out an alarm clock and set it down on a nearby stump, "Oh that, the test is to see if you can get these bells from me before this clock reaches noon.", He held up two small bells on strings, "Whichever one of you doesn't get a bell, will be sent back to the academy, and will be tied to one of those posts, and not allowed to eat lunch."

"Ha, so that's why you told us not to eat breakfast, too bad for you guys, I already ate.", Naruto started to laugh at them. They glared back at him, then turned a pained look down to their stomachs that had just growled.

Kakashi, rolling his eye, said, "Okay, we'll start when I say.", Kakashi took them in, they had all gotten serious, ready to jump off as soon as he said so. "Begin!"

They all three shot off into the trees, all in different directions. '_Already off to a bad start._'

* * *

A few minutes later, he looked up to see Naruto on a small hill on the edge of the clearing. "Alright, just you and me."

"You know, ninja are supposed to be stealthy, not openly declare themselves to their enemy and challenge them.", Kakashi hadn't really expected any better from him. He pulled out his '_Icha Icha_' and started reading, seemingly ignoring the blonde genin.

"Whatever, like that matters, I'm gonna kick your ass and take one of those bells from you anyway. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", Suddenly there were ten Narutos, all charging Kakashi. Just as they were about to reach him, he jumped into the air and landed several feet away. They got up from the pile they had gotten into when they collided. They charged him again. This time, just as he was about to jump away, he was grabbed from behind. "You're mine now!", yelled the Naruto that had grabbed him. The other clones came from the side and grabbed his arms and legs. "I'll knock you out and _take_ that bell from you!."

'_When did Naruto learn to make shadow clones, I thought that it was a jonin level technique._', Sakura hid under a bush, watching the whole exchange.

Just as Naruto was about to land the punch though, he brought his arm back and jumped off the head of 'Kakashi', causing it to poof back into Naruto for an instant before disappearing. He disappeared into the branches of a nearby tree. Sakura and Sasuke were looking on, confused, wondering what had just happened. They didn't have to wait long though, because as soon as Naruto disappeared into the branches, he was sent flying right back out. Then, an unscathed Kakashi jumped down from one of the branches, his eye smiling at Naruto. "Very good Naruto, not only were you successful in creating multiple shadow clones, but you were able to use them as a distraction. Then, you were able think quick on your feet, and adapt to the circumstances. Too bad though, you'll need to be even quicker if you want one of these bells." '_I should have switched with a log instead, then he wouldn't have been able to jump off of it like that._'

Naruto's body hit the ground, causing all of the clones to be dispelled. As he skidded to a stop, he just lay there, apparently unconscious. Kakashi, now slightly worried after a few minutes, started walking over to him. "Hey, Naruto, are you okay.", '_Oh Kami, I must have hit him harder than I thought._', "Okay guys, time out, looks like I hit him a little too hard. I'm gonna have to take him to the hospital."

The other two were thinking pretty much the same thing, '_Well, he may act tough, but he can't take a punch at all._'. Sakura, unconcerned for Naruto, saw this as the perfect chance to be with Sasuke. She jumped off in search of him, making sure to stay hidden. She soon found him, seeing as he wasn't trying to hide from her. "Hey, Sasuke-kun. Now that Naruto is out, we should work together to get those bells. Two bells, two of us.", She crouched on to the branch next to him, inching closer to him as she spoke.

"No thanks, you'll only get in my way.", he said, jumping away to a new hiding spot.

Kakashi had walked up to him and was picking him up. He had him in his arms and had walked a few steps when suddenly, Naruto opened his eyes and grabbed one of the bells that were dangling from Kakashi's belt, a few inches from his hand. "Ha, I knew it would work!", he yelled as he jumped away from a stunned Kakashi.

"But, I could have sworn that you were out cold when I picked you up. I read all of your vital signs, and they all pointed to you being unconscious.", Kakashi stared at him, completely confused.

"Yeah, over the years I've perfected the art that is 'Playing Opossum'.", in an almost inaudible whisper that only Kakashi noticed, he added, "I've had to if I wanted to survive.", He quickly put on the big smile again and looked at Kakashi "And man, did you fall for it." Naruto just started laughing, with no sign of his earlier gloominess. After about a minute, he stopped and looked at Kakashi, "So sensei, what do I do now? There are still a few more hours until noon." He said, a big grin on his face.

A few hours later had Sakura and Sasuke tied up to posts while Naruto sat on the ground eating, a still shocked Kakashi just staring at him without touching his food. '_Nobody has been able to take one of the bells before, let alone on his own. I better keep an eye on this one, if I train him right, he may just fulfill his dream someday.__ Lets just hope that he can pass this next test too._', "Alright guys, I gotta go do something really quick, I'll be back in about fifteen minutes. Naruto, don't let them go and don't let them have any food. I'll be right back.", He shunshinned away in a puff of smoke.

About five minutes later of nonstop stomach growling, Naruto had had enough. "*sigh* I'm not that hungry anyway, you guys can have some of my food, as long as you guys promise not to tell Sensei about it."

"Really, thanks Naruto, maybe you're not so bad after all.", relief evident on Sakura's face.

Naruto got up and had started feeding Sakura, "Does that mean that you'll finally go out with me Sakura-chan?"

"Cha, not in your life Naruto-baka!", Sakura exclaimed.

"Aww, your just cold Sakura-chan.", He turned away from Sakura and was about feed Sasuke when he heard a thud behind him and a look of fear cross Sakura's face. He turned around to see a very angry Kakashi glaring at him. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei, I was just uh-um-"

"**You were just breaking the rules, _just_ to help your teammates! Do you know what that means?**", Kakashi had bent down and looked Naruto straight in the face, "**Well?**"

"*gulp* N-no,w-w-what?", Naruto had backed up against the middle pillar.

"**It means**... You've passed.", The angry look turned to one of happiness, While everybody else just looked confused.

A short speech later had them all filled in with the importance of teamwork. Sasuke and Sakura were untied. "Okay then, that about wraps it up for today, You two can head on home now, I need to speak with Naruto for a few minutes.", Sasuke looked back towards Naruto and Kakashi, wondering if he would be getting special training because he had actually gotten a bell. '_Just when did you stop being the dead last Naruto?_', he was brought out of his thoughts when Sakura glomped him and pulled him away, trying to get him to go on a date with her.

"Neh, Kakashi-sensei, what did you want to talk about?", Naruto said, with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Naruto, what did you mean when you said that you had to learn to fake unconsciousness?", A look of concern crossed his face when he saw a small frown appear on his face, and his eyes turn cold.

"I-I don't want to talk about it right now.", He looked down, trying to escape the eyes full of pity."And I don't want your pity."

Kakashi walked over to Naruto, "You know, it's not always good to bottle up emotion like that, despite the fact that you're a ninja.", Naruto turned away, his fists starting to shake. "Follow me, I have something I want to show you.", He walked over to the memorial stone, "On this stone are carved the names of heroes, heroes who fought and died for this village. The names of my closest friends are engraved here."

At the mention of His friends, Naruto raised his head and looked at Kakashi, who now had a look of deep sadness in his eyes. "My father, my friends Obito and Rin, even my sensei, Minato.", Naruto's eyes widened at the last name. "He died saving the village, died sealing the nine-tails inside of you, as you probably know already. I know some people may blame you for his death, but I see you as a hero."

"Sensei?", Naruto had tears forming in his eyes.

"I realize now, that instead of all the time that I have spent staring at this stone, trying to keep my emotions from spilling out, wishing that I would have had more time with everyone, especially Rin." , He started to choke up. "I realize now that it should have been spent trying to make sure that a hero was happy. I know you're hurting inside, Naruto. You may try to hide it with grins, but I can see it in your eyes. Your soul is scarred, and it's all my fault. I should have been there for you, that's what Minato-sensei would have wanted and it's what I should of done from the start. Can you ever forgive me Naruto, for not being there when you needed me?", As he looked back towards Naruto, something that he hadn't expected happened, Naruto embraced him and started crying. Tears welling up in his eye as well, Kakashi hugged him back, "Thank you, Naruto."

* * *

The next day, after successfully completing their first mission, delivering a bunch of letters and packages around the village because the post office was short handed, they decided, or rather Naruto decided, and the others were almost forced, that they would go to Ichiraku with Kakashi paying for it. "Yeah, Ichiraku has the best ramen in the world, can't be beat.", as they arrived, Naruto called out to Teuchi, "Hey old man, got some customers for ya."

"Oh hey there, Naruto, I see you brought some new faces. What're your names.", He came out of the back of the shop wiping his hands with a cloth.

"Sakura Haruno, pleased to meet you sir.", she said with a bow.

"Pleased to met you too, now who are you?", he turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha.", he just sat there staring at the wall.

"Okay then, moving right along. Wait, I know you, is that.. no, it can't be. Kakashi Hatake? It is, my you've grown up.", the way the raven haired boy acted had put him on edge, but seeing Kakashi put him in a better mood. "Haven't seen you in years, what ya been doing?"

"Oh, nothing much, just being a ninja. By the way, how's that daughter of yours doing? The last time I saw her, her head didn't even reach the counter."

"I'm doing fine, thank you very much,", Ayame had just come out of the back as well when she heard her father talk as with an old friend. "Who are you anyway, you look familiar but I can't quite place it."

"I'm Kakashi Hatake, I used to come here a lot with Minato. You always used to try to get me to take off my mask and sneak peaks at me when I was eating. My, you have grown up to be quite the beauty, Ayame-chan.", Kakashi had taken her hand and kissed it through his mask, causing Ayame to blush, before Teuchi broke in, "Alright, that's enough Kakashi, none of that _chan_ stuff, I know how you are with the ladies, I don't want you getting her hopes up."

During this whole exchange, Team 7 just stared at Kakashi, each thinking of different things. Naruto wondering why Teuchi and his sensei seemed to be such good friends, Sasuke wondering why Kakashi was talking about the Yondaime like he knew him, and Sakura now curious about what was under Kakashi's mask. They were each brought out of there musings when Teuchi asked them their orders. Sasuke was the first to ask after placing his order, "Kakashi-sensei, I have a question,", he waited for Kakashi to nod to continue speaking, "How exactly did you know the Yondaime?"

"Oh, that. He was my sensei.", he said, ignoring the surprised looks he got from Sasuke and Sakura.

Next was Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei, how do you know old man Teuchi?"

"One of my fellow teammates, Obito Uchiha, loved ramen almost as much as you do Naruto. After he... um... died, Minato and I kept coming here with a good friend of Minato's, who also loved ramen."

"That's so cool Sensei. Could you tell us more about him, please?", Sakura, the mask forgotten, was eager to learn more about the Yondaime's personal life, as there wasn't much written about it in the library.

"Who? Minato, or Teuchi?", Kakashi asked.

"Minato of course. Not to offend Teuchi, but it's not that exciting that you know him.", she said.

"I suppose,", Kakashi said, scratching his cheek, "Well, as you all have probably heard before, The Yondaime, Minato Namikaze, started out as a only slightly above average ninja, graduating from the academy at the age of ten, whereas I graduated at the age of five."

"Um, You don't really expect us to believe that you were a genin at five, do you?", Sakura asked.

"Yes, I do expect you to believe the truth. Not only that but I was a chunin by age 6, at a jonin by age 13.", this earned surprised looks from all of them, for it to quickly be replaced by a smug look on Sasuke's face, '_If he's really as good as he says he is, then he's the perfect person to help me get strong._'

"It's all true. I was the one he went to for the celebration of each achievement. I still can't forget how silly and cute you looked with your miniature chunin vest on.", Teuchi said, laughing.

Kakashi, ignoring Teuchi's input, continued, "His sensei was the famed Sannin, Jiraiya The Toad Sage. If it wasn't for Jiraiya seeing the potential in him, he probably would have never made it past the rank of chunin. From him, h-"

"Yeah, yeah, Sensei, we know that already, tell us something else.", Sakura was starting to get board.

"Fine,", he said, mumbling something about Haruno women who don't know when to shut up. He continued before she could ask what he had said, "After becoming a Jonin, he took Obito, Rin, and I on as apprentices. He really showed his skill during the Third Shinobi World War, where using his own technique, the Hiraishin no Jutsu, he became known as the Yellow Flash, because of his speed and that the last thing someone saw before he took them down was a flash of his yellow hair. He tried to teach it to me, but I just never got the hang of it, and now, without knowing where any of his special kunai are, there's no way to copy the seal to actually attempt it.", He finished, hoping that it was enough to satisfy them.

Sadly, it wasn't, "Kakashi-sensei, you're just saying more things that any ninja worth there salt knows. Tell us more about his personal life.", Sakura said, a look of annoyance appearing on her face.

"Meh, Sakura-chan, I didn't know any of that stuff.", Naruto interjected.

"Shut up, nobody asked you baka!", Sakura yelled, hitting him over the head before realizing that everyone but Sasuke and Naruto, including some people passing by, had stopped what they were doing and looking at her questioningly. Crossing her arms, she looked around and said, loud enough for them all to hear, "What, the baka annoyed me.", she turned back to Kakashi, "As you were saying?"

"Right, well, I don't think that I should really be talking about his personal life wi- oh look, ramen's ready!", Kakashi was glad he was saved from being interrogated by Sakura by Teuchi, who, knowing why he didn't want to talk about Minato's personal life, had rushed the orders.

Sakura, seeing that he wasn't going to divulge any more information, turned her inquiring gaze on Teuchi. "So, you said he visited this place often, what can you tell me about him?"

Teuchi_,_ much calmer than Kakashi, told her with a straight face and not even looking at her, "Sorry little lady, I don't know much about him. Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Customer-Patron confidentiality, ya see?"

With a huff, Sakura gave up, "Fine then, keep your little secrets ya bunch of geezers, they're probably boring anyway.", Turning to Kakashi, she noticed that Ayame was gazing at him with a look of longing, her gaze then moved over to Kakashi himself to see that he had just finished putting his mask back on after eating. "If you won't tell me about the Yondaime, then tell me Sensei, what are you hiding behind that mask?", This of course got the rest of team 7's attention, as they had all been wondering.

"Sorry, Sakura, I don't think that Sasuke would appreciate me stealing one of his fan girls away from him. Besides, your too young to start chasing after me. Now maybe in a few years...", He started to look over Sakura, trying to imagine what she would look like in 6 years.

"Fine then, I can see why you don't have many friends Sensei,", she noticed that he was looking her up and down, "And stop staring at me you pervert!" she snapped at him.

After finishing their meals, Kakashi told them to go ahead to the training grounds while he paid the bill. They said there goodbyes, then headed off to the training grounds. Kakashi stayed back a bit to have a word with Teuchi while he was getting out his money, "I trust you haven't told him yet about his parents."

"No, no, I'll wait until he's told by someone else, or figures it out on his own. He doesn't need to know that until he's old enough. I just hope that when I finally die, The Red Hot Habanero doesn't beat me too hard for not taking better care of him.", He said, shaking his head and chuckling.

* * *

A/N: I know there wasn't much action or romance this chapter, just a bunch of talking, but I promise you that it will get better. And by the way, since I couldn't find anything indicating what Obito's favorite food is, I felt that I could say that it was ramen. Oh and before anybody asks, Naruto was only able to get the bell this time because he had gotten more rest and he also wasn't hungry. His mind was thinking more clearly, and even in canon he was smart enough to use his clones as distractions.

I got a message from someone, and realized I may not have been very clear. Naruto Jumped over to a tree to the right of Mizuki and threw the shuriken back at him, which cut off his hand and hit a tree on the other side of the clearing, causing it to fall down.


	2. Chapter 2: He Hadn't the Faintest Idea

Disclaimer: I don't even own a car let alone any of the rights to Naruto.

A/N: Thank you for the encouraging words, I didn't know that people would like it so much. Congrats to NeoHummel, who figured out the first stanza within a few hours, when I wasn't even halfway through writing this chapter. Nobody was able to figure out the whole thing, so I'm not sure if I'm going to end up writing the omake. As I promised, the solution to the first stanza is in here. FYI, Kiba will use the word Daken in this chapter, which is Japanese for mongrel or cur. If you don't know what those mean, then there is no hope left for you. Here it is, Chapter 2.

* * *

**Chapter 2: He Hadn't the Faintest Idea**

A few hours later, after training, which included multiple close calls from Sakura trying to cut open Kakashi's mask with a kunai, they all headed to their respective homes. Naruto, however, turned in a different direction, towards the Hokage Monument. '_Kami, I really hope that I'm right._' As soon as he heard Kakashi call Minato by his nickname, something had clicked in Naruto's head. Just as the sun was about to disappear behind the trees, he got to a place where he could see it clearly. The last rays of light were shining on the faces of the Hokages, the light was slowly shrinking, advancing down the face of the cliff. As soon as it was about to leave the Yondaime's eyes, It hit at just the right angle, and it was just dark enough, that for about 5 seconds, a beam of light reflected off of the eyes, leading to a location that he couldn't see, except that it was on the south-east edge of the village.

'_Yes, I knew it. That light probably leads to the entrance to the vault he mentioned, or maybe it points towards a map that has the location of the vault marked on it. Maybe I can lead a mission to go to the vault. That would be so cool!_', Naruto had started dancing a little jig, not caring if anybody saw him.

"Hey, blondey, why are you dancing like that, you got ants in your pants or something?", a voice said from behind him. He turned to it to see a little kid standing there staring at him. He had brown hair kept in a strange fashion by an odd cap, and wore a scarf around his neck that was almost twice as long as he was tall.

"Meh, what does it matter to you kid?", Brought out of his good mood by the look of contempt in the kid's eyes, '_Great, and I thought I wouldn't get this sort of treatment from kids. Parents must've told him._', "Just stay out of my way, I gotta get home and rest. I could get called away on special ninja business at any time.", He made to walk away to his house, reminding himself to search the area that the light had pointed to tomorrow after training.

"Hey, don't act like your better than me!", The kid had jumped in front of him, looking flustered.

'_Oh great, I was hoping that he wouldn't press it._', "Look kid, I really don't want to be bothered by you right now, so unless you want to fight, get out of my way.", he started to walk around him.

Just as he was passing by, the kid turned and tried to take a swing at him. It seemingly connected, sending Naruto sprawling to the ground, "Don't just walk away, I'm Konohamaru Sarutobi, grandson of the Sandaime. You're not that tough if you couldn't even dodge my punch.", after a few seconds, and not seeing Naruto move at all, he started to get a little worried, "Hey, are you okay? I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

All of the sudden, he felt his hands grabbed roughly and pulled behind him, and he got pushed into the ground, "First rule of the shinobi, move through the shadow, conceal your movements from your opponents until the time to strike.", Naruto said, while pushing Konohamaru's head into the dirt.

"B-But how did you, when did you get behind me?", he looked back to where Naruto had just been laying just in time to see the shadow clone poof into smoke.

"Rule number two, never underestimate an opponent, nor overestimate yourself.", He had let go of Konohamaru and stepped away from him, his gaze never wavering from the kid's eyes. "But if you really must know, I used a substitution jutsu to switch with a shadow clone I had made when I was walking past you."

Konohamaru was now shaking with anger, "Well I'm not going to fall for that a second time!", he yelled as he ran towards Naruto, fist cocked back to punch him.

"You're right, it won't.", right as Konohamaru was about to hit him, he grabbed his arm, spinning him around, pulling his arm in a painful position behind his back. "Rule three, never give your opponent an advantage over yourself. In other words, don't be predictable, and don't create a hostage situation.", Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai, bringing it close to Konohamaru's neck, "Do you know the punishment to those ninja that break those rules?", Konohamaru shook his head, being careful not to let his neck touch the blade, "I'll tell you then.", leaning in close, he whispered into his ear, "The punishment, is _death_."

Konohamaru, seeing the glint of metal getting closer, started to sweat, "P-please, don't hurt me. I p-promise, I'll never do it again, I-I swear.", he had started to snivel, tears forming in his eyes.

He was suddenly pushed a away, "Haha I was just kidding kid, you're alright for a brat!", Konohamaru, confused, turned around to see Naruto storing his kunai back in his pouch, grinning down at the boy.

A voice grabbed both of there attentions though, causing Naruto to lose the grin, "Honorable Grandson, where are you?", they saw him come around a bend in the road. "Ah, there you are Konohamaru-sama.", he said, relief evident on his face. Noticing Naruto standing there, he narrowed his eyes. He looked back to Konohamaru to see the dirt and scrapes covering him and the drying tear streams down his face. "He didn't hurt, did he, Honorable Grandson? If he did..", he looked back to Naruto, who was frowning now. He then returned his gaze back to Konohamaru to see him shaking his head. "Well, we should get back anyway to get those scrapes patched up. Hurry, before the d- _boy_ infects you with his stupidity.", Glancing towards Naruto he said, "Stay, away from the honorable grandson, I don't want you infecting him with any of you bad habits.", he grabbed Konohamaru's hand and started walking him away. Konohamaru looked back right before he turned the corner to see Naruto looking down to the ground, stock still except for his fists, which wouldn't stop shaking.

* * *

The next day, after completing the morning mission, and training most of the afternoon, Naruto was heading full speed towards the south-east edge of the village. '_I'm just glad that Kakashi let us away early, I might just be able to get there in time to see where the light leads._', he thought as he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He stopped, though, when he saw a commotion in an alley that he had just jumped over. He turned around, crouched, and brought his eyes over the edge, sending chakra to his ears to enhance his hearing, a technique that Kakashi had taught him just a few hours a go. They twitched when he started to pick up what was being said.

Down below, 3 muggers were surrounding someone, holding knives. He couldn't tell who the person was, but could see that it was a young girl. "Okay girlie, hand over that expensive looking jacket of yours, and all of your money too.", he said, waving his knife around, acting as if he knew how to really use it. Above, Naruto saw her take off the jacket, and recognized the insignia on the arm. '_Hinata!_', he quietly made a dozen shadow clones, telling them to spread out. He turned his attention back to the alley below.

The boss had just finished counting the money, and was now looking over Hinata, checking for any jewelry. When he didn't find any, his thoughts changed, noticing her already developing chest, "Say, why don't you take the rest off, we'll have a little fun.", Hinata, seeing him moving closer, backed up and brought her hands up, shaking her head and starting to cry. The other two just stood there, chuckling and licking there lips.

"Hey, ya perverts, shouldn't you at least buy her dinner first?", the thieves all turned to see a silhouette standing at the end of the alleyway, the setting sun behind him. They regretted that action though, as they had unwittingly looked straight into the sun, the light momentarily blinding them. They weren't given any time to react though, as they all heard the sound of several thuds around them. Before they knew it, they were all out cold, laying in heaps on the ground.

The real Naruto walked over to them, dispelling his shadow clones. After lightly kicking them a few times to make sure he hadn't killed them, he turned to see Hinata huddled and shaking against the wall, her eyes screwed shut and her arms wrapped around her in fear.

Hinata was trapped in her own thoughts. As soon as she understood what they were planning to do to her, she stopped hearing anything, she didn't even see the newcomer. She lay there, waiting for them to take advantage of her. Instead of the rough touch that she was expecting, she felt arms gently wrap around her. Startled, she opened her eyes to see a shock of blonde hair. She couldn't tell who it was through her tears, but saw there mouth moving, but still not hearing a word.

Naruto had bent down and looked at her, she had clearly not noticed him yet. "Hinata, are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they.", she didn't respond, not even showing if she had heard. Seeing the pain she was in, he was reminded of all the times he had felt a similar pain. All of those times he had just been hoping that somebody, anybody, even just one person would stick up for him, pick him up, tell him it would all be alright and hug him. Knowing this he got closer, wrapping his arms around her, trying to comfort her. Seeing that he had finally gotten a reaction from her, he asked a again, "Hinata, are you all right?"

Hinata, realizing why she couldn't see, brought her hands up and wiped away the tears. Naruto seeing that the crying had stopped, smiled at her, trying to calm her down. She saw his smiling face inches from hers, felt blood rush to her cheeks, and all went dark.

Naruto, seeing that she had fainted, started worrying, but calmed down when he saw that the beginnings of a smile were on her face. Leaning her gently against the wall, he went back over to the thieves and picked up her jacket, putting it over her like a blanket. He searched their pockets, taking out any valuables, weapons, and any forms of identification. He tied them up and made 3 clones. He gave them the I.D. cards and a note explaining what had happened, no names involved. The clones each picked up one of the three men and went off to drop them at the ANBU HQ with the note.

Gathering up all of the money, he put it into the finer made money pouch he had found, assuming that it was Hinata's. He stored the weapons away in his pouches and went back over to Hinata, placing the wallet in one of the pockets on her coat. He then picked her up bridal style and walked out of the alley, making sure not to wake her. As he was walking, he suddenly remembered what he had been doing before he had saved her. He quickly looked up to the stone faces to see that they were completely shrouded in shadow. Sighing, he continued to his apartment, smiling down at Hinata whenever she shifted.

Reaching his apartment, he lay her on the ground, leaning against the wall while he unlocked the door. He would have preferred to have taken her to the Hyuga estate, but had realized that people would probably misunderstand when they saw him holding her, thinking that he had been her assailant. It didn't help either that he had no idea where the Hyuga estate actually was. Once the door was unlocked and open, he picked her back up and went inside, gently laying her down on his couch before going back and shutting and locking the door. He walked back over to her, adjusting a strand of hair that had fallen out of place when she had stirred.

He stood there for a few minutes, studying her features, never having gotten a good look at her before. In truth, he had always found Hinata to be quite cute. Not as pretty as Sakura, but then again, he had never really gotten a good look at her face. She was always blushing and turning away from his gaze, seeming to fear eye contact, and always wore that bulky jacket, preventing anybody from seeing her physique. She really was beautiful, now that he got a good look at her. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his stomach growl. Readjusting her coat so it would act like a blanket, he moved towards the kitchen area, he got out and prepared two cups of Insta-Ramen, one for him, and one for Hinata, just in case she was hungry when she woke up. After finishing his meal, he took out the scroll that held the riddle, trying to come up with the answers. He soon dozed, and fell asleep, head on the table.

* * *

Hinata stirred, waking up and stretching. She had been having a horrible nightmare, she had dreamt that she was being attacked by strangers, but had been saved at the last minute by a mysterious Knight in Shining Armor. Once she looked around her, she realized that she was not in her bed, but was laying down on the couch in a strange apartment. Naruto, woken up from the sound of her moving around, raised his head groggily and looked at her. As soon as she saw Naruto, she remembered everything that had happened. She got up, tears forming in her eyes, and ran to Naruto, hugging and startling him. Once she grabbed him, he was completely awake. He heard the sounds of her sobbing and felt a wetness start to form on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her back. "It's alright, it's over now, you're safe."

After a few minutes, the tears had stopped flowing, but she was still shaking. Hugging him, she could smell him. Oddly, he smelled slightly of pines and citrus, and she chuckled because he always wore orange, and smelled like one too. She gripped his jacket tighter and pulled herself closer to him, breathing in his scent, drawing comfort from it, and let out a raspy sigh, her throat still slightly raw from crying. Naruto took these the wrong way. He felt the shake from her chuckle and thought she was scared, felt her pull closer and thought she needed something to hold onto, and heard her breath, and mistook it for her trying to recover from her sobs. She suddenly remembered who she had been hugging, and realized that she wasn't wearing her coat. She jumped away with an *eep*, blood rushing back to her face, twiddling her fingers again. Naruto looked at her, confused, "Hinata, is there something wrong, are you hurt somewhere and I accidentally touched it?", He saw her nervously shake her head, never making eye contact with him. "Then tell me, why are you acting like this?"

"I-It's because, um-I-uh-", she just kept glancing at her coat, wishing that she was wearing it right now.

"Don't tell me you hate me too.", she suddenly looked over at him too see him hanging his head, tears falling down onto his lap, "Why, why does everybody hate me? Does this hate run so deep, that even one of my classmates, one who I had just saved, hate me, just for existing?", stunned she looked at him, confused. She flinched when he slammed his fist into the table. She then saw him grab the part of his shirt that was covering his belly. "It's not my fault, it's all because of this damned thing inside me. Why did I have to be the one.", he raised his head and looked out of the small window, staring at the face of the Yondaime.

"I-I don't hate you, N-Naruto-kun.", he looked back at her to see her looking at him, confusion on her face. "W-Why would I e-ever hate you, Naruto-kun?", she walked over to him, sitting down in a chair next to him, her shyness forgotten.

"You don't hate me? Then I'm begging you, tell me, why do you always avoid getting near me, acting afraid and jumping away whenever I even brush against you?", he grabbed her shoulders, looking at her pleadingly.

Her face redder then ever, "Well, I-I, um, i-it's because I, w-well, um,", she started out. When she saw the pained look in his eyes, seeing that he thought that she had just been lying before, she brought up her courage, "It's because I love you!", she said, a little louder than she meant to, and she brought her hands to her mouth, covering it, regretting what she had just said, '_What if he rejects me? We barely no each other._'

"You what?", he asked, thinking that he hadn't heard her correctly.

"I s-said, th-that I l-l-love you.", she whispered, barely audible, and on the verge of passing out.

Naruto just sat there, rethinking all the times they had interacted in any way, realizing that what she had said was true. All of the sudden, he moved towards her, hugging her, "Thank you, Hinata-chan.", he leaned in and gave her a peck on the forehead, but that was all it took for her to go over the edge, passing out.

Naruto, seeing her head fall onto his chest, looked at her in surprise. He smiled, though, when he realized why she had passed out. He moved her back to the couch, making sure that she had a pillow under her head, and that her coat would keep her warm. He went back to the table, and was just about to pick up the scroll when he saw the uneaten cup of ramen. Chuckling to himself, he rolled up the scroll and stored it away underneath a loose floorboard. After cleaning up, he decide that he would go over the jutsu that Kakashi had taught him, trying to enhance his senses, until she woke up.

This time, Hinata had dreamt that the knight had taken her back to his castle, where he sung songs of love to her, and did things to her that made her blush, even in her sleep, causing her to faint in her dream. Of course, instead of fainting in her dream, she actually woke up, again startled by her surroundings until she remembered where she was.

Naruto, who had been enhancing his hearing at the time, heard her yawn and the sound of her clothes moving as if they were an earthquake. He quickly stopped the flow of chakra, but not quickly enough to stop his ears from ringing. He looked over at Hinata, spinning his pinkie in his ear. "Oh you're awake. How was your nap?", he chuckled when she jumped and looked at him with a slight blush. "You can stay here until morning if you want.", he said, yawning, getting up and heading to his bedroom.

"Um, Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?", he let out, clearly tired.

"Um, c-can I sleep in y-your bed t-tonight?", she let out, "Not to impose, or anything.", she quickly added, not wanting to seem rude.

"Oh, sure, *yawn*, I'm fine with taking the couch." He had started walking back towards the couch.

"I, uh, I actually meant, w-would you mind i-if we sh-shared the b-bed?", she said, more nervously than before.

Naruto, was a little surprised. He was processing any reasons she may have had for asking for this. She had just confessed that she loved him, but the image brought by that thought made him blush. He shook his head slightly, '_No, Hinata's far too nervous to want to do that right now. She passed out when I pecked her on the forehead._' Then his thoughts returned to the reason she was here in the first place. He nodded slightly, '_Yeah, she must be nervous__, and still shaken up and scared. Seeing as how she obviously trusts me, she will feel safer if she sleeps close to me, where I can protect her._'

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?", Hinata asked, worried he may have been offended by her request. '_He must have taken it the wrong way. Now he thinks I'm a slut!_', were her thoughts, tears threatening to return.

Naruto saw her tears and panicked, raising his hands and waving them in front of him, "Yeah I'm okay, just stop crying. You're prettier when you smile, so be happy."

The unexpected compliment caused an intense blush to spread across Hinata's face, "S-so, you don't think I'm being to f-forward?", She asked.

"No, it's fine. I understand why you need to be close to somebody right now."

"So, I can sleep in your bed?", Hinata asked, hopefully.

"Sure, just, *yawn*, just let me change into my PJ's first."

There was a sudden growling sound in the room, causing Hinata to jump with an *eep*, and look around, searching for whatever had made the sound. They heard it again, but this time she looked down at herself, realizing that it was her stomach, earning a chuckle from Naruto, and causing Hinata to blush and start the twiddling again. Naruto walked back over to the table and picked up the now-cold ramen and a set of chopsticks, "Here, I made this for you earlier, but it's kinda cold now.", he said, handing it to her, "Just come in whenever you've eaten enough.", he said before walking into his room.

She waited until he was gone before scarfing it down with a ferocity that people had only ever seen with Naruto. It wasn't really that she loved ramen, but more that she hadn't eaten anything at all that day. She had decided to go on a diet after hearing that some of the other girls were doing it, thinking that the reason Naruto had never really noticed her before because she was a little bigger than the the other girls. After all, he had always seemed to chase after Sakura, who was the smallest in the class. After finishing it in about thirty seconds, she put it in the trash can, when she suddenly burped loud enough for Naruto to hear, who had started to chuckle, causing her to blush.

She found the bathroom and taking off her mesh shirt, left on nothing but her undershirt and bra. She left her pants alone, certain Naruto would berate her for being to forward if she didn't wear them to bed. Blushing, she headed into Naruto's room, whom it seemed, was already asleep. She crawled in next to Naruto, making sure not to disturb him. Just as she was fading off, Naruto turned and wrapped his arms around her, "Mmmm, looks delicious.", he mumbled, clearly still asleep, he suddenly licked Hinata's cheek. Hinata, realizing what had just happened, promptly passed out for the third time that night, this time with a smile on her face.

* * *

When she woke up, the sun was just starting it's climb into the sky. She lay in the bed for a bit, letting her memories from yesterday come back to her. There were three good reasons why she was not freaking out right now, being in somebody else's bed, in somebody else's residence. Number one, she was fully clothed. Number two, Naruto's subtle scent was all over his bed. Number three, this hadn't been the first time she had seen the inside of Naruto's room. She hadn't snuck in, she wasn't a fangirl, no, she had instead used her Byakugan to spy on Naruto when he was home sometimes, once even seeing him... She shook the thoughts from her head. She could feel her body reacting to that image and his smell around her.

She sat up and stretched, yawning. Seeing that Naruto wasn't with her, she assumed that he had left to go talk to her parent before they started to worry. She got up and groggily shuffled out of his bedroom and over to the bathroom. She opened the door to the steam filled room, walked over to the toilet, and sat down. She finished, and was about to stand up, when a white noise that had been there when she woke up, disappeared. She raised her head and looked at the curtain just in time to see Naruto pulling it back.

Naruto had woken up early, seeing Hinata in bed with him. He had started to freak out, but then he remembered what had happened last night, and calmed down. He had gotten out of bed, careful not to wake her up, and headed to the bathroom to start his morning routine. Now he was walking out of the shower, searching for his towel. When he saw Hinata sitting on the toilet, her lower half exposed, he froze. Multiple things happened. Hinata screamed out of instinct, sending her hands down to cover herself up. Blood gushed out of Naruto's nose, causing him to stagger backwards and slip. He grabbed onto the curtain, which just tore off the rings and fell on top of him, barely covering him up. Hinata, after seeing this, looked over at him to see that he was out cold, and blood was still trickling out of his nose and his leg was twitching, "N-Naruto-kun?"

A few minutes later had the two of them sitting awkwardly at his table, Naruto with tissues up his nose, and Hinata heavily blushing, eating cereal. "Um, Hinata-chan, don't you think that your parents will be worried that you never came home last night?", said Naruto, who had started to lean his chair back slightly.

Hinata jumped up, "Oh Kami, he's probably sent out the rest of the clan searching for me!", she yelled, startling Naruto, causing him to lose balance and fall backwards, hitting his head on floor, "Oh, N-Naruto-kun, a-are you alright?", she looked at him, concerned to see that he was out cold again.

After they had finished breakfast, they started walking to the Hyuga compound. Hinata was staring at Naruto, blushing and twiddling. Naruto, now with a patch bandage on his head where he had hit it, had a pained expression on his face, occasionally casting a glare at Hinata, causing her to look to her feet until he looked away again. They continued like this, not saying a word, Hinata wondering if her father would understand why she hadn't come home, and Naruto wondering how severe his concussion was.

They were almost to the compound, when suddenly, a group of four ninja, all with the distinctive white eyes of the Hyuga, landed in front of them. "Hinata-sama, where have you been? Has this _boy_ harmed you in anyway?", the lead Hyuga inquired, glancing towards Naruto.

"W-Well, um, y-you s-see-", Hinata didn't know where to begin.

"Hinata-chan has been with me. She had been attacked by some muggers.", Naruto said, stepping between Hinata and the others when he saw how nervous she was. "Thankfully I was passing by, and stopped them before they could hurt her. She passed out from the shock of the event, so I brought her back to my place until she woke up.", he glared unflinchingly at each of them until they turned away from those dead eyes, those eyes that had seen so much suffering, daring them to question his motives.

The lead Hyuga looked past Naruto to Hinata, "Is this true, Lady Hinata?", he asked. When she nodded, he turned back to Naruto, quickly looking away when he tried to meet his gaze, "Why didn't you take her to the Hospital or the Hyuga compound?"

"I didn't take her to the hospital because, as I said earlier, she wasn't hurt, she had only passed out.", he sighed, "I didn't take her to her home because I have absolutely no idea where it is.", he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But, you could have asked somebody where it was, why didn't you do that?", asked another of the four, thinking he had gotten him.

"You and I both know that as soon as they saw me holding Hinata, they probably would have formed a mob and attacked me, thinking that I had been the one to hurt her.", he turned his gaze to the younger Hyuga, who, despite already being a chunin, hid from his gaze behind the leader.

"None the less, we need to take Hinata back to the Hyuga compound to talk with Hiashi-sama. You should come too, so you can explain your side of the story to him.", trying to grab Hinata, he was stopped when his arm was suddenly grabbed by a slightly clawed hand. Activating his Byakugan, he looked over at the person who had interfered, "Let go of me, Inuzuka brat."

Naruto and Hinata turned, startled, to see an angry Kiba holding the Hyuga's arm, his features starting to turn feral, Akamaru barking at them from on top of his head. "Leave her alone, Daken!", he growled, jutsu enhanced fangs growing.

"I said let go, unless you want to lose that hand!", he was drawing a ninja-to, when suddenly Shino and Kurenai dropped down from a nearby roof.

"Kiba, that's enough! Let go of him, now!", Kurenai glared at him, her red eyes almost seeming to glow. Kiba, still defiant, only stopped when he heard Akamaru whimper. Reluctantly, he let go of the jonin's arm, leaving some claw marks behind, from where he was gripping so tight. "I'm sorry, Hyuga-san, it won't happen again.",Kurenai said, turning to the lead Hyuga and bowing slightly, while he just nodded, deactivating his Byakugan, rubbing his wrist and mumbling about Inuzuka mutts.

A short conversation later had Naruto informed of what had been happening, "So Team 8 was searching for Hinata as well when you guys heard she was missing?", they all nodded, "And when you were searching, Kiba suddenly ran off, because he had caught her scent?"

"That is a good summary.", Shino droned.

"Hm, I'm just surprised that you didn't find her scent at the alley and tracked it back to my place.", Naruto kept walking, hands in his pockets.

"We were planning on checking the path between the Hyuga compound and our training grounds, but Kiba got too excited when he heard that she was missing and we just ran after him, unable to calm him down.", Kurenai sighed, "If we had gone there in the first place, instead of following any faint trace of her scent, which is no doubt covering the village, we wouldn't have been searching all night.", she glared at Kiba, causing him to hang his head, and Akamaru to whimper.

They arrived at the compound to see Hiashi standing out front, waiting for news. As soon as he saw Hinata, a look of relief crossed his face before he checked himself and returned to his stern facade. "Hinata, I trust you aren't hurt."

"N-no father, I'm f-fine.", Hinata let out, before suddenly running over to him, hugging him and sobbing. Hiashi looked at the others, eyebrow raised. His gaze lingered on Naruto, who was the only one who didn't share his look of confusion, but instead just looked sad.

Picking up Hinata like he had when she was smaller, with her head on his shoulder and her almost sitting on his arm, he motioned for them to all to come in. They first went to Hanabi's room, where he knew she would be waiting for news with their mother, Hisakata. As soon as they entered, Hanabi got up and ran over to Hinata, who had been put down already. Hiashi, after closing the door, took them to his office. As soon as they were all settled, he dismissed the other Hyuga. Once he was sure nobody else was listening in, "Naruto-san, you seem to be the one who knows what has happened, explain."

After a short explanation of the events that had led up to his, excluding Hinata's confession, them sleeping in the same bed, and the shower incident, they all sat there for a few minutes. They were all snapped out of there daze when Hiashi spoke, "Where are these criminals now? I do hope you didn't just let the free to continue to prey on innocents.", he said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Naruto, I wanna give these guys a piece of my mind.", Kiba growled out, looking ready to burst out of the room looking for them.

"Don't worry, I had some shadow clones drop them off at the ANBU HQ. They should be in holding cells right now.", Naruto said, gesturing for them to calm down. "I'm sorry, but I think it's about time for me to go. My team is probably wondering where I am.", with that, he ran off, not letting anybody respond. With that, they all left. On the other side of the main branch house, Hinata had told her sister and mother the same thing, leaving nothing out, except for when Naruto had licked her.

It was past noon when he got to the assignment hall. He arrived just in time to see the rest of his team leaving. "Hey guys, sorry about not showing up this morn-"

"Shut it baka, we had to do the mission without you, so don't expect to get paid!", Sakura fumed, glaring at Naruto.

"Fine, like a care about that pocket change. I was late because-", he had started, but was interrupted again.

"We don't care about how you found this new great ramen, Naruto.", she said waving him away.

"No, that's not why.", she was surprised by the seriousness in his voice. Seeing that he had there attention, he continued. He told them the same version of the story he had told the others, again leaving out the more embarrassing parts. "I'm telling you this, because I wanted you guys try not bringing anything up that could make her upset. Her emotional state is very fragile right now."

Kakashi, seeing that he was finished, "Hmm, I'm proud of you Naruto, you did good. Alrighty then, seeing as how everything turned out alright in the end, lets get to some training, I'm gonna teach you guys something new.", he started off towards the training grounds.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei, is it a new jutsu? Come on tell us.", he asked, running to catch up.

"Just wait, I'll tell you when we arrive."

A few minutes later they were there, "Okay, we're here, now tell us what this awesome new jutsu is.", Naruto was jumping up and down in excitement, no sign of his earlier somber mood.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you, just settle down.", Naruto stopped jumping, but couldn't stop shaking, "I'm going to teach you about... Fuinjutsu!"

"Eh, what's that, never heard of it.", Naruto asked.

"Fuinjutsu is the art of seals, dobe.", Sasuke said, a smirk on his face.

"That's right Sasuke. Here.", he held out some ink and paper, a brush, and an example explosive tag. "I want you all to try and copy the symbols on the explosive tags onto these other sheets of paper."

"What, are we artists now, that sounds boring.", Naruto said, looking at his materials as if he was just handed a raw carrot.

"Well, if you don't want to do this, I heard that Tora got loose again, you could go after her, by yourself.", Kakashi said, knowing how much he detested the cat.

Naruto started to sweat, "No no, I'm fine, I think I'll just find some place where I can draw in peace.", he backed up, turned around and quickly went over to the nearby stream. He was about to start, when he realized he didn't have a surface to write on. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, how are we supposed to draw without a table to use?"

"Ninja must adapt to there situation. You may run out of tags in the field and have to make more.", he eye smiled at Naruto, "Be creative, I'm sure you can figure something out."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Naruto was sitting at a desk and chair made from two clones using a henge, while Sasuke had used his headband, and Sakura had taken out a clipboard seemingly out of nowhere. A few minutes later, both Sakura and Sasuke turned in there first attempt. "Sasuke, yours is nowhere close, but that's expected of a first attempt. Sakura, as expected, yours is close, but it's not quite right.", he looked over to see Naruto still working on his and sighed. Halfway through there second attempts, Naruto yelled, "Done!", and stood up.

He handed over the whole stack of papers that he had been given. "Hey Naruto, you weren't supposed to do all of them at once, you were supposed with practice with them over time.", Sakura sighed.

Kakashi, expecting them all to mostly be mindless doodle, was flabbergasted, "H-How did you even do this, I've never seen anything like this before.", his eye wide, he motioned the other two to come over. When they arrived, they were just as surprised as Kakashi. "Every single one is dead on, I see absolutely no mistakes."

"He must have cheated, he probably made a bunch of clones henge into the sheets of paper.", Sakura, not willing to believe that Naruto was better at it than her.

"Ha, there are over a hundred tags there, the dobe isn't able to make that many clones. He probably just put all of the papers under a henge.", Sasuke didn't want to believe it either.

Kakashi, knowing just how much chakra Naruto had, said, "Oh, he can make more than that many clones and barely break a sweat, the question isn't whether he could or not, but rather, whether he did.", he looked at Naruto, questioningly, "Well?"

"Oh, so you don't believe me?, give me some more paper and I'll show you.", he grabbed one from Sasuke's stack and walked back over to his desk with the others in tow. They watched in amazement as they saw him, in a matter of seconds, recreate the seal perfectly onto the slip of paper. "There, ya see, all real.", he walked over to a tree and leaned back against it, hand behind his head and a grin on his face. "So, what's next?"

"I-I don't even know, I only planned on teaching you how to draw them and arm them. That's all I know how to do. I suppose I could teach you how to arm them.", Kakashi was completely beside himself.

"Yeah, how do you do that, tell me.", he was jumping up and down like he had been before.

"Sakura, Sasuke, go back to drawing, I don't want you figuring out how, and then trying to use a malfunctioning tag and blow yourself up.", clearly disappointed, they went back over to their writing materials. "Okay Naruto, how you do it, is you put a small amount of chakra into the paper, concentrating on the ink."

Naruto grabbed a tag and pushed some chakra into it. Afterwards, he felt a little weaker, but just assuming that it was normal, turned to look at Kakashi questioningly. "Okay, just attach it to your kunai, and throw it, make it explode when it hits that tree over there.", he pointed to a tree a on the other side of the stream, about two meters from the shoreline.

Naruto did just that, but when he tried to make it explode, the explosion was so big that it left a crater and turned the water that had been passing by on the edge of the stream instantly vaporize. The crater quickly filled up with water, forming a little pond on the side of the stream. The rest of the team just stared at him, wondering what in Kami's name had just happened. "Heh, guess I put a little too much chakra into it, hehe", Naruto was standing there, rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly, a branch with a blackened and smoking end fell from the sky and hit Kakashi in the head. "Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?", his question was answered when Kakashi fell over, knocked out.

Without saying a word, they all decided that training was over that day. Naruto made a clone and had it take Kakashi hospital. They all headed off, Naruto heading to the southeast. '_Heh, hopefully I won't have anymore distractions_', sure enough, he got to his destination without incident, he jumped on top of a nearby apartment complex and sat staring at the Hokage Monument, waiting for the light beam to appear. He didn't have to wait long though. After only a few minutes, he saw it, and followed the path it took, seeing that it was headed down to the ground, going behind some buildings that were blocking his view. It disappeared before he could move to get a closer look though, and resigned himself to return tomorrow.

* * *

As luck would have it, he didn't get the chance. That hit to the head that Kakashi had suffered, turned out to be more serious than they had thought. He was kept in the hospital, and team 7 was forced to do missions all day. They didn't finish until long after sunset. "This is your fault Naruto, why did you have to give Kakashi-sensei a concussion?", she glared at Naruto, who didn't seem tired at all. "Man, my muscles are sore and I'm all sweaty. I could really go for a dip in the hot springs. Care to join me Sasuke-kun? It's mixed bathing day.", she said, trying to sound seductive.

"No thanks, I, uh, think I'm gonna go, uh, dust my room.", Sasuke turned off down an alley and walked away quickly, looking over his shoulder occasionally with an odd expression on his face.

Sakura was hanging her head, mumbling, "He'd rather clean his house, than bathe with me?", meanwhile, Naruto was off to the side, snickering.

"I'll take you up on that offer Sakura-chan. Eh, Sakura-chan?", Sakura, not even hearing him, just started walking away, mumbling to herself.

Kakashi was let out the next day. They had gone to the training grounds early, considering yesterday filled their mission quota for the week. When they arrived at the training grounds, they saw what looked like a very pale bald man standing up, looking at the memorial stone. But as they got closer, they realized that they were bandages covering the person's head, not the person's skin. Sakura was the first to speak up, "Um, sir, we have training here, we need you to leave.

They all tried to suppress their laughter, however, when he turned around. Kakashi had his head almost completely wrapped up in bandages, the only thing showing was his right eye. "It's not funny. I think the nurses just used putting the bandages on my face as an excuse to take off my mask.", he hung his head sulking. Naruto burst out laughing, unable to suppress it when he thought of something.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I think I may know something that will cheer you up.", he said, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Oh, and what would that be?", Kakashi asked, looking up at him.

"OK, here it is. **Oiroke no Jutsu!"**, they saw a big puff of smoke, it cleared quickly, for them all to see a young naked woman.

She blew a kiss at Kakashi, "Hey there Sensei, why don't you teach me some new tricks.", she said in a seductive voice, bending down and running her hand up and down his arm. Suddenly, a red splotch appeared on the bandages on Kakashi's face, quickly growing. He fell backwards, unconscious. At the same time though, something none of them had expected happened. Sasuke shot off into the air, propelled by the force of his nosebleed. He landed a few feet away, knocked out and twitching.

Naruto transformed back, rolling on the ground laughing. "Oh man, I expected it from Sensei, but Sasuke too? He's a closet pervert!"

"Naruto-baka, I'm going to kill you!", Sakura yelled, running towards him.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!", he took off running, laughing the entire time.

About a half hour later had the three males of team 7 all sitting down, leaning against the wooden posts, all recovering from nosebleeds, though Naruto's was for a different reason than the others'. Sakura was sitting down a few feet away, practicing her seals, occasionally looking over at them and sighing, '_Why did I have to get stuck with a bunch of perverts?_'. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei?", Naruto had leaned over when Sakura wasn't looking, "Watch this. **Oiroke no Jutsu: Otokonoko Kaisaku!**" Sakura got up with a sigh, cracking her knuckles, preparing to beat him down, when the smoke cleared.

"Hey, there Sakura-chan, why don't you and I go somewhere more... private.", There stood, in the clearing smoke, an older looking Sasuke, wearing nothing but shorts, running his hands through his hair. Sakura pulled a Hinata. Her face turned redder than a tomato, a trickle of blood coming from her nose, before she passed out with a smile on her face. Kakashi had burst out laughing from the start, while Sasuke sat there gaping, eye twitching.

"If you had really wanted to cheer me up Naruto, you should have done that from the start.", Kakashi said, trying to stifle his laughter as a smiling Naruto reappeared.

In another half hour, they were all sitting down looking at each other, Naruto's face covered in bruises from after Sakura had woken up. "Okay, we never speak of this, agreed?", Sakura said, looking at each of them.

"Agreed.", they all said in unison, hanging there heads.

* * *

That evening, after training, Naruto had gone back to look for where the light pointed to. He got there just in time to see that it was pointing to somewhere along the wall. He searched the wall up and down, unable to find anything irregular. He decided that he would try again tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon, once Sakura and Sasuke had started practicing their seal making skills, Kakashi pulled Naruto to the side. "Listen Naruto, I've never seen anyone with as much natural talent with seals as you have. That's why I think that you should go to the library and pick up a few scrolls and books on sealing. There aren't very many experts of Fuinjutsu left in Konoha, and all of them are busy right now. If you have questions though, I'll try to answer them."

"Th-the Library? I-I've never b-been in there before.", Kakashi saw him gesture to get closer, so he did. Naruto then leaned down and whispered, "The Librarian lady scares me."

Kakashi, brought his head back, eye wide. He burst out laughing, unable to control himself. After getting odd looks from Sasuke and Sakura, and a glare from Naruto, he calmed down. "I'm okay, I'm okay. Just had to let that out. I'll go to the library and pick out some stuff for you."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei, I'll make sure to learn all I can, I promise.", he was jumping up and down now, thinking he would have a one of a kind skill in the village, just like Sasuke would eventually when he learns how to use the Sharingan.

"Alright, settle down.", he said, smiling under his mask. '_It's like trying to teach a hyperactive monkey._', "I'm going to go pick them up, I want you to practice arming the tags. Be back in a few.", he jumped away.

He came back about an hour later to find a stack of at least 6 tree trunks on the other side of the stream, and some clones moving another onto it, "Ehhh, what's going on?", he stood there confused until the real Naruto ran up to him, taking the reading materials.

"I was knocking down so many trees that it seemed like a waste to just leave them there.", he made some more clones, "Since you're back, I'm gonna have my clones take them to the lumber mill on the other side of town.", Naruto immediately headed of for home, hoping that his clones wouldn't screw things up. That was, apparently too much too hope for.

A few minutes later had a stream of Narutos walking through the streets of Konoha, all carrying the fallen logs, all getting stared at in confusion. they soon got lost. Some of the clones that were supposed to clear a path started fighting, "I thought you knew how to get there!"

"If you didn't know, then why would I know, we know the same stuff, idiot!"

"Ha, you just called yourself an idiot!"

"Why you!", they got into a brawl in the middle of the street.

Unwittingly, on of the Naruto's carrying a log let go to try and break it up, but this caused the other Narutos to drop the log from the sudden imbalance. The worst part was that they were at the top of a hill. It started rolling down, gaining momentum. Most people had been paying attention to what was going on and gotten out of the way before there was any danger. One person though, at the bottom of the hill was oblivious, seemingly staring at a food poster. The Narutos that had been fighting all stopped and started running to catch it. They saw the one person wasn't paying attention. "Hey Fatso, get out of the way, log coming through!"

"I'M NOT FAT, I'M PLEASANTLY PLUMP!", an angry Choji had turned around and grabbed the log just as it was about to hit him. With superhuman strength, he picked it up, and threw it at the group of Narutos, most of whom dispelled. "Oh, hey Naruto...s? I didn't see you there.", was the Akimichi's response when he noticed the group of clones. These series of events caused the real Naruto, who was back at his apartment, to cringe and sigh, as the memories of the clones came back to him. He made a few more clones to replace the ones that were dispelled.

After a few hours going over the various books that he was given, most of which just explained the different uses of seals, he headed back over to the edge of town to search along the wall. When the time came and the light shone down from the stone face, he was prepared. He had made a bunch of clones to stand along the wall waiting for the beam to appear. As soon a it did, Naruto ran over to see that there were some thick, dark red lines on the wall. They seemed to form some kind of seal that he didn't know about.

* * *

A/N: All of the fainting, it just doesn't stop. I didn't plan on it when I was writing, but about halfway through, I realized how many times I was having it happen, I decided to change the name of the chapter to fit it. Sorry for the cliff there, but I wanted to wait until chapter 3 to reveal anything else. The third chapter probably won't be posted until next Friday. I apologize in advance for the wait, but I've been writing almost nonstop for the past week and I need to take a little break.

I also apologize for the lack of action in the story so far, but I promise, there will be more action in the next chapter. I know this, because next chapter, The Land of Waves mission starts.

In case anybody is wondering why Kiba was acting so aggressively, it's because he sees Hinata as part of his pack and is therefore protective of her, among other reasons that will be revealed at a later date. One last thing, the jutsu that Naruto used is my best guess as to how you say "Sexy Jutsu: Boy Version", If I'm wrong, someone tell me and I'll adjust it.


	3. Chapter 3: I Said I'm Naruto!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I don't think I want to. It just sounds like a drag.

A/N: First off, I'm sorry it took so long. I promised you guys that it would be out sooner, but life happened. If you want to know why it's late, it's in my profile. This chapter is longer and has some action in it, which makes up for it I think. I ended up writing the omake, just a little relationship development between two people, with a little lime, I guess (still not entirely sure when it gets to the point that you can call it that), one of whom hasn't made her appearance yet.

Lastly, I wanna make a shout out to albertoersa. He's beginning some stories as well, good stories, and you should check them out. They definitely have potential. I've been giving him some tips, and he's been giving me some tips as well.

* * *

**Chapter 3: I said I'm Naruto!  
**

'_What kind of seal is that? It's so complex._', Naruto just stood there, staring at it. It was almost invisible against the red wall, only being slightly darker, so it wouldn't be hard to miss it while walking by it. He was brought out of his thoughts when the light beam started to fade. Thinking quickly, he had a shadow clone henge into a piece of paper, and another into a pencil. He put it against the wall and traced the image with blinding speed. He traced what would have taken most more than ten minutes to complete in only 3 seconds. He stood there, staring at the image he was holding, trying to figure out what it was. '_What could this seal be for? It's completely different than any of the other seals I've seen._'

He snapped himself out of his daze and ran home, but not before marking the place on the wall with a kunai stuck into the ground. He locked the door behind him and went to his small desk, getting out the books and scrolls. Suddenly realizing that what he was holding wasn't a permanent copy, he took out a real piece of paper, a brush and some ink. He started copying it down, this time slower, making sure he didn't leave anything out. After he was done, he dispelled the clones. He suddenly knew what it felt like to be written on, and be written with, causing him to shudder.

He finished getting out the material about seals, and started comparing images to what he had just copied down. After a few more hours, he still hadn't found a match. He had just opened a new scroll when his eyes started to droop.

He woke up a few hours later to the sound of a fist hitting his door. "Naruto-baka, open up!", Naruto's head snapped up when he heard the voice. He shuffled over to the door, yawning.

"What do you want this early in the morning? I was asleep.", Naruto said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"It's not early Naruto, it's almost noon. You were late and missed out on the mission... again.", she stood there, hands on her hips. She saw the bags under his eyes, "How long were you up last night?"

"Oh, I don't know, a few hours.", he said, barely stifling a yawn, "I was going over the stuff that Kakashi gave me."

"Whatever, we need you at the training grounds.", she waited for Naruto to walk past her, pinching her nose when he passed. "Eww, Naruto, you stink, when was the last time you took a shower?"

Naruto sniffed his arm and scrunched up his face. "A few days ago. My shower curtain broke and I haven't found a store that has one that will let me in. I didn't want to ruin the already crappy floor in there."

"Whatever, you can wash yourself in the stream when we get there, just go get a change of clothes and some soap, I'll go ahead.", she backed away from him, trying to escape the stink.

A few minutes later he got to the training grounds, all of the others making sure to keep their distance. "So, Kakashi-sensei, what are you going to teach us today?", Naruto said, still trying to wake up.

"Oh um, not much, just some taijutsu training. You and Sakura are lacking in that department.", he had been told by Sakura that he reeked, but he was only just now smelling it. Scrunching up his nose, "Maybe you should go get washed first, we'll start without you."

With a grunt as his response, he walked over to the stream and starting to take off his clothes. "Not here, Baka! Go downstream, we don't wanna watch you bathe.", Sakura yelled, hitting Naruto in the head with a pebble she had just thrown.

After bathing, he came back to see Sasuke and Sakura, both going at Kakashi with only taijutsu, not landing a single hit. Kakashi had his book out, seemingly not taking his eye away from it, though blocking and dodging every attack. Naruto, seeing this, jumped into the fray. He charged Kakashi from behind, right after he had blocked an attack from Sasuke. Just as he was about to hit him, Kakashi threw his book into the air, and, dodging to the side, grabbed Naruto's arm. He threw Naruto at a charging Sakura, hitting her full on. They landed in a heap, "I didn't say you could join yet, Naruto.", Kakashi said, composing himself before catching his falling book, returning to his reading.

The next few days went like that. They would do missions in the mornings, then train in the afternoon. They would occasionally switch to something new, seeing if any of them were proficient in anything. Kakashi learned that Sakura was good at chakra control, but lacking in Taijutsu. Sasuke was good in Taijutsu and average in other areas. Naruto, however, wasn't very good at any of it. The only thing other than Fuinjutsu that he was decent at was Taijutsu, which he was somewhere between the other two at in skill level.

At the end of the week, he decided to give them a day off. Naruto had been waiting for just a day. He had been so busy, he hadn't been able to check on Hinata. After the mission's and training, he would always go through the seals for about an hour before going to bed. He wasn't trying to learn them, he was just trying to match any of the designs to the one that he had found. After changing, he went to the Hyuga estate and knocked on the door. He had to wait about 2 minutes before somebody finally opened the door, "Oh, hey, I'd like to talk to Hinata-chan, is she here?", he tried to look past him into the house, but the person deliberately blocked his view.

He looked up to see pale eyes glaring at him, "Sorry, but you can't talk to her right now.", he said flatly, hoping that would settle things.

Clearly it didn't, "Why not, is she hurt? ", he asked, trying to look around him again, but again being blocked.

"I don't have to tell you that. Now leave before I have to remove you by force, _brat._", he started to activate his Byakugan, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Hiashi glaring at him. "Hiashi-sama, excuse me, but I was just about to remove this _pest_ from the grounds."

"Now why would you try to make him leave? He is always welcome here for how he has helped Hinata.", Hiashi said, gripping his shoulder tighter.

"But, Hiashi-sama, he is the-", the servant started, but stopped when Hiashi activated his Byakugan. "Yes Hiashi-sama, as you wish.", he stood to the side to let Naruto in, bowing.

Naruto walked in, ignoring the glare he was receiving from behind him. "Hiashi-sama, is Hinata-chan alright? I haven't seen her all week.", Naruto asked, turning his attention back to Hiashi.

"She is fine, but she hasn't left the estate since she came back. She's shaken up, but is still training and getting visits from her team.", Hiashi said, trying to calm him down.

"Oh, that's good. I just wanted to check if she was okay. I'll be going now.", Naruto started to turn, but was pulled back by Hiashi.

"Nonsense, I know how lonely your apartment is. We were just about to start dinner, why don't you join us?", he said. Not waiting for an answer he almost dragged Naruto into the dining room, which was easily twice as big as Naruto's entire apartment. Everyone turned there heads when they entered, Hinata gasping and blushing, Hanabi looking slightly confused, and Hisakata, just smiled. "Everyone, we have an unexpected guess.", gesturing to a free seat next to Hinata, he had Naruto sit down. Hanabi sat across from Naruto, with Hisakata on her left. Hiashi sat at the end of the table.

Hiashi clapped his hands and a dozen servants came out, all carrying platters of food. They set them down on the table in front of the people who were sitting. They left, and then re-entered, all carrying dishes and chopsticks, which were handed to each person individually. After a short prayer, they all got food from the various platters and started eating. Everybody that is, except for Naruto. Hiashi noticed this, "Naruto, why aren't you eating, is something the matter?", Hiashi inquired. Naruto didn't seem to hear him, so he walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Naruto, who had been deep in thought, jumped when he felt the hand on his shoulder, looked up into Hiashi's eyes, "N-No, it's just that I was hoping to, well, watch the sunset.", he said, deciding that what he said was partially true.

"Well, I'm sorry about that, but you can watch it tomorrow, can't you?", he walked back over to his seat and sat down. He gestured to the food, "Now on the other hand, it's not every day that someone outside the clan has the chance to eat dinner with the Hyuga, so eat up.", he said with a small smile, returning to his own food. Naruto shrugged and grabbed some food, piling it onto his plate.

After three plates, Naruto was full. He looked around him seeing that Hinata hadn't even eaten half of her first plate. "Are you sure that you are alright Hinata-chan? You've barely eaten anything.", he looked at her with concern on his face.

She jumped when he spoke, causing her to drop her chopsticks. She blushed and looked away, twiddling her index fingers again, "Well, I-I heard from the o-other girls that they were going on a d-diet, so I decided t-to as well. They w-were doing it for Sasuke, b-but I, w-well...", she glanced over to him, blushing even more.

Naruto, remembering her confession, nodded in understanding, and said," Well, Hinata-chan, not all guys like girls to be all skin and bones. Besides, it's just not healthy.", he had picked up her plate and replaced the food that had already been eaten. "You need to eat right if you want to become a strong kunoichi. You do want to be strong, don't you?", he handed her back the plate, smiling at her. He had turned so that the others didn't see and winked at her, making sure there hands touched slightly as he was handing her the plate. Hinata's eyes went as wide saucers when she saw him wink. All the sudden, she started scarfing down the food, only taking breaks to breath. "Whoa, slow down there, you'll choke.", Naruto said, trying to suppress his laughter. The others, however, didn't even try, they just burst out laughing, causing Hinata to blush and slow down when she noticed.

After they had all finished eating, they sat and talked for a little while. In the middle of the conversation, Naruto had a thought. "Hiashi-sama, I have a question.", Naruto said after waiting for the conversation to end. Seeing Hiashi gesture for him to continue, he brought out his copy of the seal, "I'm not sure how much you know about seals, but, have you ever seen this kind of seal before?", he handed the paper to Hiashi, who examined it.

Hiashi handed it back to him, shaking his head, "It's not familiar, but I'm not really the one to ask. If Jiraiya-sama were here, he could probably figure it out.", he said, "But sadly, nobody in the village has seen Jiraiya-sensei for a few years.", Hiashi suddenly stood up. "I think that it is about time for us to go to bed. Hinata, show our guest out.", he walked away, holding the hands of Hanabi and Hisakata. Naruto decided right then that he would find the Yondaime's vault on his own, as a test of his abilities, and depending on what he found, he would keep whatever was inside as his own.

Naruto and Hinata were walking through the estate towards the door, Naruto with his hands behind his head, Hinata just blushing. "Hinata-chan, why do you wear your hair short?", Naruto asked, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at her, never breaking stride.

Hinata, however, stopped and looked down, "W-Well, Naruto-kun, i-it's because all of the o-other girls wear it long, because Sasuke l-likes long hair. I didn't want p-people to think that I l-liked him.", she said, silently cursing her stuttering. She continued walking, catching up to Naruto who had stopped to wait for her.

"Oh, that.", Naruto said. He started snickering, his signature grin on his face, "I was the one that started that rumor. Sasuke mumbled one day that he hated long hair and how it always got in the way. Also, I like long hair, and thought it'd be nice if all of the girls, had long hair, especially you Hinata.", this caused Hinata to blush even more. They reached the door, "Well, goodnight Hinata-chan.", Naruto ran out the door before Hinata could respond. Hinata had wanted to say one more thing, and was about to call to him, but decided to wait, '_I can wait a little while. At least now he's acknowledging me, and that's enough for now._', she thought to herself. She turned and smiled, walking back to her room.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi never showed up at the mission hall, so they went to the training grounds. It was almost noon when he finally arrived at the training grounds. He found them all in the middle of a sparring session, Naruto and Sakura against Sasuke, Sasuke winning. They stopped when they saw him, and Sakura, as always was the first to speak up, "Kakashi-sensei, I know that you're late sometimes, and that you're trying to fix it, but this is ridiculous.", she glared at him, wondering if he would let her get away with hitting him. "Also, you look horrible, it looks like you just woke up.", she noticed that his hair was sticking out in a few places and that his flak jacket was a little crooked.

"That's because I did.", he walked over to them, adjusting his jacket. "I had a rough night, but don't ask me why. Trust me, you don't want to know."

Shrugging, they continued training, this time it was the three of them versus Kakashi. After a little while, they noticed that something was different. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, why aren't, *pant*, you reading your orange book?", Naruto asked, recovering from a counter attack.

Kakashi looked at him in surprise, "I'm not sure, I just don't feel like it.", he checked in his pockets and pouches, not finding it, "Besides, I think I left it back at An-my place.", Kakashi said, hoping they wouldn't question his slip.

Sakura wasn't buying it, "Are you alright? You never go anywhere without that book. Maybe we should stop so you can go get it.", she hoped he would, because she wanted to follow him and see where he had been last night.

"No thanks, I think that we'll just keep training.", he looked at her, seeing right through her plan. Kakashi had them come over to the wooden pillars, "I'm going to teach you guys a new technique."

* * *

With Naruto's muscles sore from training, he painfully sped towards the location of the seal, hoping that his kunai hadn't been messed with. He needed to see it again, needed to make sure of something. Speeding across the rooftops, he reached the wall and found his kunai marker just as the sun was setting. He looked at the intricate design, comparing it to the copy that he had with him. '_There are no differences, I copied it down perfectly._', he was surprised, he had thought that he had copied it down wrong. He brought his hand up, tracing the lines with his fingers. Something unexpected happened, as soon as his hand was completely over the seal, it became stuck, and he felt his chakra start to drain. He tried desperately to pull his hand away, with no effect. The sun had already set, but the seal had started to glow with a blue light. That's when a thought occurred to him, '_The ink on paper bombs glow when I arm them, so if I do the same here..._', he started pushing more of his chakra into the seal. He felt his chakra deplete rapidly, the seal not changing except to glow even brighter. '_Damn it! I can't reduce the flow, at this rate, I'll die!_'

He felt his vision going dark, and fell over, into the darkness. After laying there for a few minutes, he realized something, he wasn't unconscious. He started to get up, realizing that his hand was free as well. He looked around him and saw that he was standing at the entrance to a dark tunnel which steadily sloped downward. He backed up a few steps and saw that a door had opened up on the side of the wall. '_What the hell is going on? Was it some kind of lock?_' Naruto suddenly felt very lightheaded, and he sat down on the ground, holding his head. He sat there for several minutes, catching his breath, trying to think through what had just happened. He got up and and threw a pebble into the tunnel, and quickly heard it hit a wall.

He saw the fading light and decided to come back tomorrow, just hoping that nobody else came by and tried to explore before he did. As he was walking away, he heard a surprisingly quiet rumbling, and turned to see the 'doorway' was closing up, the wall seemingly 'growing' back to fill the hole. He walked back over to the wall and felt around, not finding any cracks or other signs that a door had been there. He put his hands in his pockets and sighed, '_I hope I don't have to use as much chakra as I did last time to reopen it._' he turned around and walked home in the fading light.

* * *

After a relatively uneventful day of training, he hurried back to the tunnel, bringing a flashlight and a few glowsticks with him this time. He sat in front of the wall, staring at the spot above his kunai. As soon as he saw the markings, he placed his hand on the seal, expecting the worst. What he didn't expect was for it to almost immediately open up, his chakra barely phased. He stared into the darkness for a few minutes, jumping when he heard a cat meow behind him. He turned around to see a familiar brown cat, the red bow on her ear, disappear into an alley. He chuckled to himself, but then realized that if she was near, another genin team would be on it's way soon.

He hurried into the tunnel, turning on his flashlight as he did. After a few steps, he heard the door closing and looked back. He decided that he would go forward, worrying about how to get out later. He continued walking, not getting very far before he came to a dead end. "Is this it? A small tunnel into the wall that has nothing in it? Is this the secret vault of the Yondaime?!" he yelled out, frustrated. He started to walk forward, checking if there was another seal on the wall at the end. He was almost there when he heard an odd sound from beneath his feet. He looked down to see a manhole cover, and sweat-dropped. He put the flashlight in his mouth and moved the cover over, revealing a small hole with a ladder leading down into the darkness.

He grabbed one of the glowsticks he had brought along, activated it, and dropped it down the hole. It quickly faded into the darkness, hearing the small sound of it hitting the ground about three seconds after it was dropped. '_Hm, about 60 meters._' Keeping the flashlight in his mouth, he started climbing down the ladder, dropping down when he reached another tunnel. He picked up the glowstick, sticking it in his pocket. He was about to move forward, but stopped when he saw the light of the flashlight reflect off of something a few inches from his nose. He fell backwards in surprise, shining the light in front of him.

He broke into a cold sweat when he looked at what he had almost walked into. In front of him was a huge crisscrossing of ninja wire covered in explosive tags. It went on for a few meters, where it stopped at a small metal door. He sighed in relief, knowing that if he had taken one more step he would be dead right now. He got up and looked around him. This part of the tunnel was about two meters wide and three tall. He saw that the wire was forming an impassable barrier, no openings large enough for even a kunai.

As he shone his flashlight around the walls, he saw that at every point where the wire was attached to the wall was a small seal. There were two other seals on the wall next to him and the door. It looked completely different than the seal that he had found outside. It was black and had more of a swirl pattern to it. Looking closely, he saw that there was a slight difference between the ones on the wall and door, and the one next to him. The one next to him had the Kanji for 'lock' in the center, and the one for 'closed' in the others. Just to make sure that it wouldn't work, he placed his hand into the center of the seal and pushed his chakra into it. He suddenly brought his hand back with a yelp. The seal had turned red when chakra was put into it, burning the parts of his hand that had been touching the ink.

Seeing that there was nothing he could do here without more knowledge, he took out all of the materials to make a seal, which he kept on him at all times now just in case. He started copying down the seals that he saw, going slowly and making sure that he didn't make a mistake. After a short time, he got up and placed the paper that he had used back into his pouch, and started going back up to the surface. When he reached the entrance, he shone the light onto the wall and saw a seal identical to the one outside. He pushed his chakra into it, and walked out, relieved to see that nobody was around.

He started to walk back to his apartment, his mind too distracted to be running. He decided that he would proceed with the rest of the riddle slowly, not seeing any reason to rush. He got back to his apartment and got ready for bed, sitting down for a few minutes to place his new seal in his desk and look at the riddle.

_When the world is painted red_  
_And your friends are thinking of bed_  
_Look into the soul_  
_On the Flash's head_

He had already figured that out, look into the eyes of the Yondaime at sunset.

_At the end of the light  
__You must share your might_  
_Watch out for the paper and ink  
Or you'll never see another fight_

That part made more sense now, follow the beam of light, and share my chakra, or what makes me mighty, with the seal. Then to watch out for the paper bombs or I could die.

_From the union of yellow and red  
Orange blood need be bled_  
_Inside you will find  
The tools to take our stead_

He still had absolutely no clue about the last part. He still didn't know what orange blood was, or why it stated the fact that orange comes from red and yellow. He sighed, placed it back in a drawer, and went to bed, thinking about how much had changed in the past month.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were given the mission to find Tora. As they exited the mission hall, he ran ahead of the others, telling them to follow, "Come on guys, hurry up. Let's finish this mission."

"What's got you so worked up Naruto? I thought you hated catching Tora.", Sakura said, turning to Kakashi for orders.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah dobe, don't get so worked up. We need to find where she is first.", he took the wireless radio from Kakashi, handing another to Naruto.

"Whatever, you guys can do that, I'll be right back.", Naruto said, bounding off towards the edge of town after putting on his radio.

He was long gone before they had time to react, "Cha, that baka is so going to get it when he gets back.", Sakura yelled, but then jumped when she heard Naruto in her ear.

"You don't have to yell Sakura-chan, I can hear you just fine. Besides, you'll be happy when I come back.", he said, the others wondering what he meant. Naruto quickly reached the alley where he had seen her last night and made an army of shadow clones. He surrounded a dumpster, hearing the sounds of something moving inside. He captured Tora, who started trying to claw off the face of the clone who was holding her. He suddenly had an idea. He had one of his clones henge into a cage, and put Tora inside of it, making sure that he could hold it without her biting off his fingers. "Hey guys, I got Tora, meet me at the Assignment Hall."

Once they were reunited, the rest of his team asked him how he had found her so fast. He just let out the simple answer, which was partially true, "I used shadow clones to find her." After returning the reluctant cat to her owner, they were told to wait for another mission, seeing as how they had finished the first one so quickly.

Hiruzen brought out the scroll detailing the various D-rank missions that were available, "Let's see, what do we have. Ah, you could babysit the Chief councilors baby, or dig up potatoes at..."

"Come on, isn't there anything more exciting that you could give us Jījī? These missions are all too easy and boring.", he sat down on the ground, showing the others that he wouldn't leave until he got something better.

Hiruzen sighed, "Alright, if that's how your going to be, then I guess I have no choice. I'll assign you to an escort mission that we just received.", he said, then called out for their client to enter. An aging man entered, holding a some form of alcohol in one hand, and leaning against the wall, clearly drunk.

"So I'm s'posed to be escorted by these brats? Are you sure that they're really ninja?", he slurred out, stumbling over to Naruto and eying him. "You look kind of funny, what happened to you?"

Naruto snapped, only being prevented from tearing the old man to shreds by Kakashi who had grabbed the back of his jacket, "Naruto, you can't kill the client, or do you want to fail your first C-rank mission?", those last words made Naruto stop struggling. He crossed his arms, mumbling curses under his breath.

Not long after, they were out the gates, heading towards the Land of Waves. Naruto had brought along a few of his scrolls about Fuinjutsu, knowing that he had to learn more if he was to get into the vault. They had been walking for about two hours when he found a kind of seal that one could use to store various items inside of a single scroll. He started thinking of all the possibilities, '_With a large enough scroll, and enough time, somebody could potentially store an entire house into one scroll._'

Kakashi nodded in silent approval of his team. About an hour into traveling they had instinctively fallen into something that had semblance to a formation. Sasuke had taken point, Naruto was trailing slightly behind to the left, and Sakura was opposite the Uzumaki. Tazuna was about in the middle of the rough triangle while Kakashi lingered back. The Jonin could tell that the client had been relieved by this, assured that they were taking the job seriously.

As they were traveling, Kakashi glanced at a puddle that was very out of place, considering it was the dry season and hadn't rained in weeks. Of course, outsiders to Hi no Kuni wouldn't take this into account. No matter. It was obviously an ambush set up for them, and it was obviously some jutsu being used. Jutsu meant ninja. Ninja meant a target.

His team would be fine. They'd been too well prepared not to be. Kakashi himself would be fine of course. After all, the power of the log was formidable enough. But the power of the transformed log was_ ungodly_.

Oblivious to the Jonin's musings, two forms crept from the puddle as the group passed, utilizing stealth worthy of their chunin rank. Meizu, the younger brother, crouched atop the back of the older brother, Gozu. The Demon Brothers eyed their targets for just a moment, mouths almost watering from the vicious sneers hidden behind their breathing apparatuses. Almost time.

He was just about to try it out, drawing the seal using a wooden tile as the surface, when, suddenly, two ninja erupted from a nearby puddle. They flew towards Kakashi, using a bladed chain connected to one's right gauntlet, and the other one's left gauntlet. "Shit!", was all Kakashi could say before the chain was wrapped around him, then tightened, cutting him to pieces. They saw the bloody chunks of him fall to the ground, the attackers grinning evilly at Team 7.

Naruto was stunned, completely unprepared for an attack. Before he could recover from the shock of what had just happened, he saw Sasuke run in. He jumped over their chain, throwing a kunai so that it was trapped to the ground. He then split-kicked the two of them, sending them flying and causing the chain to snap off of their gauntlets. They quickly recovered though, one charging the still stunned Naruto, the other charging Tazuna and Sakura, who was guarding him. Naruto, thinking just quickly enough, brought up the wooden tile, using it to push the clawed gauntlet off course just enough for him to escape harm.

Naruto was about to prepare a counterattack, but when he looked up... the fight was over? It had only lasted maybe 4 seconds, but it was already done. There stood Kakashi, completely unscathed, in front of him, holding the two missing-nin. He brought down the kunai that he had gotten out, "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what just happened?", he asked, thoroughly confused.

"I did a substitution jutsu before they 'killed me', and decided to test you guys, see how you would react.", he said, looking at Naruto with disappointment.

"Well, couldn't you have given me a bit more time? I was just about to kick their asses.", he smiled at them, hoping they would be proud of his reaction time.

"No, I couldn't have. If I had given you any more time, Tazuna, Sakura, or Sasuke, would have been seriously hurt.", he looked at Naruto, trying to make his point. Naruto hung his head, a little in sadness, but mostly in thought.

Kakashi gave his other students a well-earned congratulations for their performance in live combat. Kakashi then secured the 'Demon Brothers' to a tree, using highly proficient knots. He commented that the duo was known for relentlessly attacking, as the genin had seen, until their targets were killed. He briefly interrogated their prisoners, who confessed without much prompting that they were sent to eliminate the bridge builder. He kindly thanked them for the information before knocking them unconscious again. Kakashi turned to Tazuna with a serious look in his eye.

As it turns out, the old man didn't have the income to afford anything more than the cost of a C-rank mission.

Some billionaire from the west named Gato, whose shipping company Kakashi knew of, was plundering the economy of Nami no Kuni. His company had swiftly monopolized control of the country's import and export; the Land of Waves was turned into a desolate and poverty-stricken state. Gato smuggled drugs and other forms of contraband into the country as one of many ways of breaking and controlling its people.

Tazuna completing the bridge remained the only hope Wave had of surviving this siege. The people would be free to begin trading with what little they had left, and the economy would pick up once again. Gato knew this, and was not willing to jeopardize his absolute control over an entire nation. He did not place a price on Tazuna's head, as that would not be thorough enough. Gato had instead chosen to personally hire shinobi to take care of the bridge builder. The two who had attacked them recently were only of chunin rank. Kakashi informed his team the next assassin would be an elite. A jonin.

"Our assignment was to protect you from thieves or gangs. This is well beyond the scope of our original mission," Kakashi said lowly, leaving his words hanging in the still air. The meaning of those words was not lost on any present.

Sasuke steeled his resolve. No way he would quit the mission no matter how dangerous it became. Whatever was thrown at them couldn't even begin to compare to Itachi.

Sakura said nothing, only gauging the reactions of her teammates. She witnessed Naruto's shoulders shaking lightly, and was prepared to console him before...

Hands behind his head, Naruto laughed haughtily. "This is exciting! We get to kick a jonin's ass _and_ protect our client. There's no way we'll back away from this, Kakashi-sensei! It's our duty as shinobi to continue with the mission, and adapt to circumstances. We won't crap out because it got a little difficult, right guys?" The question earned him two nods. One accompanied by a confident smirk and the other by a sure smile. Team Seven would not fail their mission.

"Well," Kakashi began, tapping his hitai-ate contemplatively, "I guess we'll continue if you're that adamant about it. The ANBU patrol will apprehend these guys eventually. Naruto, you're on pick up duty since you weren't much help in the fight. Find the supplies of the enemy, they shouldn't be far."

Naruto nodded and created several dozen shadow clones to scour the area, while the original went over to the chain that was still pinned to the ground. He had originally just planned on getting Sasuke's kunai, but then burst out, "You know what? I'm takin' this chain." Naruto tore the kunai free with a yank and began coiling the chain, careful not to cut himself in case it was poisoned. He'd examine it later.

Sasuke watched with a quirked eyebrow. "What makes you think you'll be able to use that thing in battle?" He challenged him.

He turned his head briefly to scowl at him, pausing his work. "Teme! No one asked you! Besides, I could probably use it with the help of some clones.", he said. Just as he was finished coiling the chain, the clones all came back with the spoils of battle. He removed an emerald-colored scroll from his pouch and rolled it out onto the ground. This seemed like just as good a time as any to try it. He quickly made several of the seals onto the scroll, then using some chakra, successfully stored the items into the scroll, separating them by type.

Kakashi noted this with a single eye, surprised that Naruto had already gotten that far. Storage, especially multiple items into a single seal, was supposedly very difficult.

After a few more hours of walking, the five came upon the shore of a sea. The group noticed a small boat docked by the shore. The man next to it, who they presumed to be the owner, checked a pocket watch with conspicuous fervency. It didn't take a ninja prodigy to realize that Tazuna had arranged for transportation.

* * *

After a short boat ride later, they had arrived in The Land of Waves. Naruto, as he first set foot on the shore, felt a shiver pass through his body. '_This place... this place is special._', he thought, getting a feeling that the events close at hand would shape the lives of many people.

The group resumed traveling on foot. The trees differed slightly from those of the shinobi's home country. The cool climate and humidity allowed them to grow more healthily than the dry, water-depraved greenery of Hi no Kuni. Though they were a strange shade of gray.

They hadn't even been walking a few minutes when, suddenly, Naruto flung a kunai into the bushes. "Haha, gotcha!", The others peered intently as he quickly followed the trail of his weapon to see if he had hit anything. Even with his intense training and self-control, Kakashi could not hold back a groan as Naruto parted the bush to reveal a stunned rabbit. Naruto groaned in remorse.

"Oh, I'm sorry little rabbit, I'm sorry!", he apologized for the umpteenth time. Naruto looked close to tears.

Tazuna clutched his racing heart. 'Is_ that boy trying to give me a heart attack! He'll kill me before we get home!_'

'_A snow hare at this time of year..? They shed that coat after winter is over. This one must have been kept in captivity and recently released. For the purpose of Kawarimi..._' Kakashi's eye shifted about. '_They're already here...'_

Sakura rolled her eyes, '_Really, Naruto_', she thought with a sigh.

Just as they had all finished their thoughts, Kakashi yelled, "Everyone, get down!" Not a moment later, they had all ducked to the ground, except for Sakura and Tazuna, the former tackling the latter to the ground. Kakashi turned his eyes to the man standing atop the hilt of the sword that had buried itself almost halfway through a tree. The man's bandaged face fixed them an intimidating gaze over his shoulder. Sakura wondered if jonin had some odd face-covering/tilted headband fetish. "Momochi Zabuza. The Demon of the Mist.", Kakashi got into a ready stance, prepared to reveal his Sharingan.

"Sharingan no Kakashi.", this statement caused Sasuke's eyes to widen, turning instantly to his sensei. "I suppose I could forgive the Demon Brothers if it was you they had faced.", he looked over the rest of the team, unimpressed, "Cute kids, Kakashi. But I'd suggest you keep them out of this."

"You three protect Tazuna-san," Kakashi ordered, lifting his hitai-ate with one hand while giving a hand sign with the other. "This guy's on a whole other level than the other two, so try to stay out of it.", Sasuke was stunned by the sight of the Sharingan. He was snapped out of it by an annoying blonde, "Oi, Teme! Get over here, we need to guard Tazuna!" Sasuke quickly jumped into formation around Tazuna.

"I'm here to kill the old man," Zabuza reiterated bluntly, causing Tazuna to flinch. "But it seems... I'll have to beat you first, Kakashi!" Zabuza grabbed the handle of the sword and kicked off the tree in a blur. He landed on the lake a split second later, showing frightening speed for a man his size.

The zanbato was holstered onto the rogue shinobi's back by unseen means. His large hands were set in a hand seal unseen by those present: one raised above his head, the other just below his face. "Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu." Kakashi noted the large amount of chakra being used in the low-level jutsu.

The light fog that had been gathering over the area turned into a thick blanket of mist. The genin's sight had become more of a liability than an asset. Zabuza vanished from the surface of the water.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi informed them with a practiced calm. "Momochi Zabuza... was known for his mastery of the Silent Killing Technique. Before the enemy even notices it, they're dead. Be careful."

Each of the Genin tensed further as the mist thickened yet again. "Eight choices," a disembodied voice whispered into their ears. "Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle, neck, brain, kidneys... heart." The voice grew _hungrier_ with each word.

Sakura knew those points all too well. Areas to attack for instant death. Her breathing became more shallow and the grip on her kunai became tighter than needed. She could see Zabuza sneering at them in her mind, salivating at the urge to strike, his teeth so sharp; Hinata knew he wanted to rip the flesh from their bones.

Beads of sweat rolled down Sasuke's face. The oppressive aura of Zabuza's killing intent chipped at his sanity. Just as he felt himself turning the kunai toward his throat, he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself, closing his eyes.

Naruto channeled a bit of chakra into his ears in a feeble attempt to hear Zabuza's approach. He could hear Sasuke's labored breathing... the light shaking of Sakura's kunai... the chattering teeth of their client. Just on the edges of his hearing he could tell Kakashi-sensei shifted slightly. Now if he could just hear Zabuza coming.

It hit him like ramen withdrawal.

Cerulean eyes flashed open to see the back of Zabuza's left side, hand clutching the hilt of the massive blade. He was rooted to the ground with a mixture of shock and cold fear at seeing Zabuza in a perfect position to slice them all in half with a stroke of his weapon. Zabuza hadn't made a single sound, his movements were flawless.

Sakura's pulse thundered in her ears. _It was instantaneous, _she thought, her inner voice wracked with dread. He had just _appeared_.

Sasuke could see the beheading circle designed near the top of the blade, as well as Zabuza's right side. It had been spelled out for them, clear as day. _This_ was the difference between an elite jonin manslayer and even the most gifted of green genin. They could not compare.

Neither the freshly graduated ninja nor Tazuna saw who was hit by what, but a flash of green and blue collided with Zabuza, and the rest of them tumbled away in different directions. Once they had each regained their bearings, the four saw Kakashi's kunai plunged into Zabuza's torso.

Unlike the many, _many_ people Kakashi has stabbed over his lifetime, Zabuza bled cool water instead of warm blood. He registered another presence behind him just as the missing-nin he had attacked dissolved into a puddle.

"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto said.

Kakashi barely had time to turn his head and see his opponent already in mid-swing. The cleaver sliced through the Copy Ninja like _butter._ Zabuza sneered in victory... until he realized he had killed a clone.

_A water clone! It can't be..._ Zabuza thought, staring in shock at the water sprayed. _He could copy it even through the mist!_ A kunai shifted beneath his chin, causing him to still, slowly rising from his slouch. The weapon never left his throat.

"Don't move. You're finished," Kakashi declared. His gloved hand kept a firm grip on the kunai.

The genin slowly came to the realization that Kakashi had won.

Naruto released a breath he hadn't consciously been holding. "Alright! You rule, Kakashi-sensei!" he said with a relieved grin. His fellow genin stood as well, breathing sighs of relief.

The relief that washed over the group evaporated as Zabuza gave a dark laugh. "Finished? By your crass imitation of my jutsu?" he asked rhetorically.

Kakashi felt the hairs on his back stand on end as the _original_ Zabuza appeared behind him, answering his clone. "I'm not that easy to fool!" Kakashi's prisoner reduced itself to a puddle as Zabuza attempted to cleave the Copy Ninja. Kakashi ducked lowly to the ground, deftly avoiding the blade as it swept overhead with an audible wind. Strands of silver hair trailed behind it.

Utilizing years of experience wielding the Executioner's Blade, Zabuza used his momentum to anchor the sword into the ground, then shifted hands and pushed off the blade as he launched a kick. Kakashi barely had time to put up a decent block before being launched into the air by Zabuza's monstrously powerful foot.

Kakashi inwardly cursed, but thought to himself he would have to teach Naruto that move with the clones. Assuming they survived.

Zabuza jerked the sword free and charged, only to stop short as he noted the makibishi spikes along the ground. He scoffed "Trying to slow me down? Pointless." Zabuza leapt over the spikes and onto the water.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. '_He's skilled in ninjutsu, stealth, kenjutsu, and even taijutsu. What an opponent to be facing..._'

Kakashi emerged from the lake. He found himself unable to climb out and onto it. '_It's denser than normal water, I can barely stay afloat... is this chakra?_'

Zabuza appeared directly behind Kakashi, _standing on top of the water_ as he shot through a short string of hand seals. "Heh, fool. **Suirou no Justu**."

"Damn it!"_  
_

The dense water wrapped around Kakashi, forming a bubble. It restricted all of his movement, not allowing him to form hand seals. Zabuza gave a bark of victorious laughter.

"This jutsu may be made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It makes things tougher for me if you can move, right? Now then," he turned his sights to the shore dwellers, using an elite technique of the Mist to form a one-handed seal. "It's time to take care of your little friends. _Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!_" Water near the shore of the lake frothed and morphed into Zabuza's intimidating form.

The water clone gazed upon the assembled Konoha shinobi with disdain, sharing its creator's contempt for them. "You brats think being shinobi is child's play... it is not a game! Life and death hang in the balance of your every action. Wearing your hitai-ate and acting like real ninja... But you know what? A real ninja is someone who's seen the line between this world and next so many times it doesn't even _faze_ them. A _real_ ninja would be in my Bingo Book. You're just a bunch of kids..."

While Zabuza believed what his clone was saying, there was another purpose to his words other than relaying the harsh lesson he learned as a child. He wanted them to flee; if he wanted them dead they already would be. These were kids... nothing like the distrustful bastards he grew up with. They at least had some idea of what true ninja life was like, even if that was partly because he slaughtered a good portion of them. And while he had enjoyed it then, Zabuza had been a punk himself. Killing kids nowadays wouldn't be fun or challenging.

It was business. They ran or they died.

Naruto, the entire time, had been lost in thought. He was suddenly brought out of it when he was kicked into the air, hard enough to knock off his headband. "You're just a bunch of brats!", the clone stepped onto the hitai-ate, grinding it into the ground. Naruto was on the ground, appearing to be cowering in fear.

"Listen, take Tazuna and run!, You're no match for him!", Kakashi yelled, his voice distorted through the water.

Sasuke grit his teeth, '_I can't run away. If I can't even stop this guy, there's no way I can fight Itachi._' Sasuke charged Zabuza, throwing kunai and shuriken at him. Zabuza easily blocked them with his sword, kicking upwards to knock Sasuke away, who had jumped into the air to attack. Sasuke was sent flying back, caught by Sakura.

Naruto who everybody had just assumed was stunned in fear, was actually thinking, and had already come up with a plan. He charged the missing-nin recklessly. Just as he reached Zabuza, something happened that only Zabuza and Kakashi saw. Naruto grabbed his headband, which was no longer being stepped on, and just as Zabuza was punching him away, Naruto faked the hit. He flew backwards, landing roughly on the ground, confusing the jonin there.

Zabuza smiled under his mask, "You got guts kid, I'll give you that.", he watched as Naruto got up, holding his headband. "What's your name kid? I want to know what to engrave on your headstone."

Naruto, as he was putting on his headband, spoke under his breath, only loud enough that Sasuke and Sakura could hear.

"Eh, what was that brat?", he glared at Naruto, annoyed.

"I said, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", suddenly, roughly three dozen shadow clones filled the area, "**_Let's kick some ass!_**", they all charged Zabuza, prepared to attack with his kunai. They were all knocked away with the blade, the original Naruto had stayed back next to Sasuke. Zabuza had meant to keep an eye on him, but by the time the smoke from the clones had cleared, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he laughed when he saw the giant shuriken that was flying through the air. "Ha, you can't touch me with that!"

It flew past the clone, who merely watched it as it flew towards the real Zabuza. It was easily caught by his left had, "Pathetic!", he smirked. He saw the other fuma shuriken almost instantly, and jumped to avoid it, "I told you, you can't touch me.", but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the one had dodged turn into the original Naruto, who was holding a kunai.

"Take this!", he threw the kunai. Zabuza knew he would have to let go of his jutsu to escape, which he did. What he didn't expect, though, was that the kunai would puff into a shadow clone. It latched onto Zabuza, who had already released the jutsu. Kakashi jumped away, looking on impressed by what his students had come up with.

"Get off of me brat!", Zabuza was trying to beat the clone off of him, but it just wouldn't break. He then heard a hissing sound from his left. Turning, he saw an explosive tag on the side of the shuriken, "Shi-", he yelled, before it, and the shadow clone that was holding him exploded.

He flew out of the cloud of smoke hitting a tree. "H-How? How could a brat beat me like this?", he tried getting up, but fell back when he tried to use his arms to push him up. He looked to see that they had burns on them, though they weren't as bad as they could have been.

"Momochi Zabuza, It seems that you're not as powerful as they say, being beaten by some genin.", Kakashi, who had mostly recovered already, was standing over him, preparing to end it with a quick jab of his kunai. Suddenly, two senbon impaled Zabuza's neck, causing him to go limp, and, seemingly, die. Naruto, who had just climbed out of the water, and the two other genin got back into battle stance as they saw the new arrival. Kakashi just looked wary, unsure.

"Hm, it seems as though Konoha has some fine genin then.", said the new arrival. She wore a mask similar to Konoha's ANBU, but it wasn't of an animal, and had the symbol for Kiri on the forehead. She jumped down next to Zabuza, feeling his pulse.

"Thank you Hunter-san. We'll leave the clean up to you.", he stepped back allowing her to pick up Zabuza.

"But, Kakashi-sensei, who is she? Why are we just handing him over to her?", Naruto yelled, running up to Kakashi, ready to attack the newcomer. Kakashi, however, hit him over the head, and shushed him. The hunter-nin chuckled at this, before shunshinning away.

*sigh* "Naruto, she was a hunter-nin of Kirigakure, essentially their version of an ANBU. Zabuza is a missing-nin from Kirigakure, and held secrets in his body. Secrets of their village that they don't want out. If we had tried to stop her, we could have started a war. Would you want that?", Kakashi finished his lecture. Naruto gulped, imagining what may have happened if he had attacked. Naruto shook his head.

Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "Good, now let's get moving, we still need to get Tazuna to the bridge.", he fixed his hitai-ate. He took a few steps, when he suddenly collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!", Sakura yelled, running over to him. She got onto her knees and shook him a little, causing him to groan. "Are you alright?"

He opened his eyes and groaned, "Yeah, the Sharingan just takes a lot out of me. Could one of you carry me?", he asked, starting to laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit. They all hung their heads and sighed. After Naruto made a shadow clone to carry Kakashi, they set off for Tazuna's house, intent on getting there before sundown.

* * *

_**I Need a Drink**_

_Day One:_

Kakashi was walking back to his apartment, thinking about the events of the day. '_Well, I guess it makes sense to stick those two on my team__. It's only fair that I should be the one to teach them._', he sighed.

He suddenly heard a familiar voice, "Hey there Kakashi, how's it going?", he turned around and sighed again. He really couldn't deal with Anko right now, he was too tired. He tried to continue walking, but was quickly intercepted, "Hey, where you goin', not trying to escape are you?", she laughed, clearly joking, while he halfheartedly chuckled. "Come on, what's got you so down?"

Kakashi sighed again, "I'm actually pretty happy, but, not to sound like a Nara here, dealing with my team is going to be so troublesome.", he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hm, sounds like you need a drink.", she said cheerfully, grabbing him by the shoulder.

"No thanks, I don't think that I have time to go drinking, I don't want to be too late tomorrow.", he shrugged her hand away and attempted to walk around her.

"Nonsense! My friend, one thing you have to learn. There is always, time for sake,", she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into an awkward hug, causing the side of his face to press against her bosom. "Besides, you finally passed a team, and that is definitely an accomplishment that calls for a celebration.", she let go of his head, but instantly grabbed his wrist and dragged him along, straight to the nearest bar.

About an hour later, they were seated in a booth near the back, not really for privacy, more so that drunk women wouldn't see his face as he was drinking. There was half a bottle of sake left, and two more empty bottles to the side. Kakashi had barely drank anything yet, sighing at his colleagues behavior. "You know, it's so funny watching them squeal. There was this one guy, I think his name was-mhmnf", a hand had been clamped over her mouth.

"Shh! You're not supposed to talk about your work that in depth. Remember?", Kakashi's hand was knocked away.

"Eh, whatever, I don't think that anybody that can hear us really cares.", She looked over Kakashi, "You haven't drank enough yet, you need more!", she suddenly jumped onto the table and grabbed the bottle. She stuck the mouth of the bottle into his mouth, and clamped his nose shut, forcing him to swallow it. It was gone in a few seconds, and she let go of him, sitting back in her seat and laughing like a crazy woman.

"That's not funny, I, unlike you, will be dealing with a group of kids tomorrow morning. What happens if they see me like this?", he gestured to himself in general, "I'll be setting a bad role model."

She stopped laughing long enough to speak, "I'll tell you what will happen. Sasuke, who I maintain is gay, and the girl will fall in love with you, when they see you without your mask, while Naruto will crack up laughing.", the image popped into her head of Sasuke swooning over Kakashi, and she cracked up again. She was brought out of it when she heard a thud, and looked over to see that he had passed out.

_Day Four:_

Kakashi had chosen to go to the bar this time. He had been sitting down for a short time before Anko suddenly sat down across from him, "So, what's the occasion?", she said, a big Naruto-like grin on her face.

"Two reasons. The first is that I was let out of the hospital this morning. The second is that Sasuke is definitely not gay.", he handed her a small dish with sake in it, "Cheers, to the possibility that the Uchiha will see another generation.", they clinked their dishes together and drank, Anko pouring herself another round.

"So,", she said after downing another cup, "how'd you find out he wasn't gay? Did you show him what's under the mask?", she started snickering, "If that's true, maybe he just thinks that your ugly.", she said, her cheeks already turning red from drunkenness.

"Heh, very funny, but no. Naruto used a henge that made him look like a... well *coughs* a beautiful naked woman.", this caused her to start howling in laughter, getting her a few glares from the other patrons. "Yeah, he did it to try and make it up to me that he was the one that sent me to the hospital.", he started blushing, remembering the events of that morning.

They sat there for a few hours, talking and drinking, though Kakashi stopped drinking halfway through. Kakashi stayed only to make sure she got home alright.

_Day Fifteen:_

It had become a habit somehow. The cause was most likely from stress caused by his team. He had severely reduced the time that he spent at the memorial stone, and increased the amount of time that he spent drinking, Anko inexplicably showing up almost every time he went there. He eventually just accepted his new drinking partner, not really caring about her rowdiness anymore. He steadily started drinking more and more, getting more like her every night. She had also started sitting next to him, instead of opposite him

They had been drinking for awhile now, when a young couple walked over to the booth, apparently not seeing Kakashi or Anko. This would prove to be the downfall of their relationship. The girl, upon seeing Kakashi's unmasked face, started swooning over him, and asked him out, ignoring the protests of her boyfriend and Kakashi.

Getting fed up, he moved her out of the way, and tried to punch Kakashi. Before he could even touch Kakashi though, Anko, appeared in front of him and picked him up by the collar of his shirt. Looking down, he had a good look at her body, and said, "Hey, you're a lot hotter than my girlfriend. Whats say we go have some fun.", he smiled at her, thinking that he had hit the jackpot when she started to smile at him, and put him down. He hadn't seen Kakashi wince when he heard his statement however, and didn't expect what happened. Still with a smile, she kneed him where it hurt, then, before anybody could react, sent him flying through the wall with a punch.

Anko was about to follow after him, when Kakashi got in front of her, his mask now on. "Alright, I think you've had enough to drink tonight, lets say we get you home.", he eye smiled at her, trying to calm her down.

Her smile turned into a scowl when she saw him crawl out of the rubble. He saw her and started trying to run, screaming, "Help, that crazy bitch is trying to kill me!"

"What was that?! You'd be dead meat if he wasn't holding me back!", she struggled against Kakashi, who wouldn't let her pass. He dragged her out of the bar, apologizing to the barkeep and promising to repay him for the damages. Once they got out of the bar, she calmed down, but then turned her glare to Kakashi. "Why didn't you let me teach that punk a lesson?", she looked about ready to unleash her anger on him.

"Because, Anko, he was civilian, and you would probably end up killing him.", she crossed her arms under her breasts, unhappy that he made sense. After a bit of convincing, she agreed to call it a night, but insisted that he walk her home. They didn't talk for a while, Anko because she was still brooding over how she could have punished him, Kakashi just thinking. As they reached her apartment, Kakashi decided to ask, "You know Anko, I've always wondered, but why don't you ever react like other women whenever you see my face?", he had been wanting to ask this for awhile, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to the question.

She shrugged after unlocking her door, "I guess, I just don't care what you look like. I mean sure, your hot, but if that was all I went after, then I'd be married by now. I'm going after you for other reasons.", she said nonchalantly, before realizing what she had said. Kakashi looked at her, surprised by what she had unwittingly revealed. She uncharacteristically blushed, and before Kakashi could respond, she had pulled a kunai on him, pressing him against the wall. "If you ever tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_ about what I just said, I'll kill you. Understand?", she said menacingly.

Kakashi nodded, starting to sweat. Not letting him go just yet, she stared at his eye for awhile, then moved his mask down revealing the rest of his face. She studied his face, as if taking it in for the first time, when she suddenly kissed him, causing Kakashi's eye to widen. Throwing the kunai behind her into the wall in her apartment, she grabbed his vest and pulled him into her apartment, not breaking the kiss. Kakashi had quickly recovered from the shock, and was pushing her against the wall of her apartment, taking over the kiss.

They broke the kiss for need to breath, both panting heavily. Anko pushed him onto the couch, quickly went to close and lock the door, before straddling him. She shook off her coat, and took off his flak jacket before returning to the kiss. She grabbed his head, pulling it towards her, trying to stay in control, as was her nature. They had just broken the kiss, ready to continue, when they heard a loud sound outside. Anko, rolling her eyes in frustration, got up and walked over to the window. She looked outside to see a group of guys had gotten into a fistfight, knocking over a trash can in the middle of it.

Kakashi, saw where her thoughts were headed. He got up and was about to calm her down, when she picked out the kunai from the wall next to her, opened up the window, and threw at one of the people who were fighting. It whizzed past his head, getting the attention of all the guys in the group. "Will you shut up! People are trying to have sex up here!", she yelled out at them, loud enough that all the dogs in the Inuzuka Compound on the other side of town started barking. Kakashi did a faceplant, hearing all the guys outside burst out laughing.

They suddenly stopped when they saw her bend the bars of the planter, that she never used, eyes smoldering. Seeing this, they all started running away, yelling about a purple-haired demon woman. Kakashi, before Anko could give chase, grabbed her from behind, "They're just angry because they aren't getting any.", this earned a snicker from her. He kissed her on the neck, eliciting a moan from her, "Come on, let's continue in an actual bed." He pulled her into her bedroom, and closed the door.

Kakashi woke up, a suffering from a splitting headache. He looked around him, confused on his whereabouts, until he saw Anko next to him, wearing nothing but a sheet. He sat up, starting to sweat, not able to remember last night. He got nervous, thinking that she may have just slept with him because she was drunk. He started thinking of what she might do to him when she woke up, him becoming a unich among those thoughts. He jumped when he felt her arms wrap around his neck gently, expecting her to start strangling him to death. What he didn't expect however, was for her to whisper in his ear, in a very un-Anko tone, "Hey sweetie, how'd you sleep?"

He breathed a sigh of relief at her words, just glad that, for whatever reason, she wasn't angry. He turned his head and lightly kissed her nose, "Fine, but I think I had a bit too much to drink.", he said holding his head.

She chuckled, "Hehe, light weight.", before falling back onto the bed, asleep again, not even managing to cover her upper torso. Kakashi blushed when he saw her, quickly covering her with the sheets. He got up, putting on his pants, and went to make some coffee. He had started it, and was about to go take a shower, when he looked out the window, only to see the sun already high in the sky. He had slept almost to noon. He rushed into the bedroom, the shower and coffee forgotten, and quickly got dressed. He only spared the time to write a note, telling her where he went. He had almost walked out the door, when he remembered his flak jacket. He was putting it on, when he felt the familiar form of _Icha Icha_ in one of the many pockets. He took it out contemplating it, before he shrugged and threw it into the trash can. After, why would he read about it when he could actually do it.

* * *

A/N: There it is, in all of it's glory. I hope you guys like it, because it took me awhile to get it just right. Again, I'm sorry for the long wait. So, R&R, tell me what you thought of the fight against Zabuza, the omake, or the tunnel to the vault. I'm honestly surprised that nobody thought of chakra when I said 'might' in the riddle. Also, yes Haku is a girl, no, she won't have a relationship with anyone. Or will she? Muwahahahahaha! Seriously though, Haku is female for a reason, and she's not going to Konoha, you'll just have to wait to see why. Trust me, it is very important that Haku is a female.

I'm not going to make any promises about when the next chapter will come out, but I hope that it will take less time than it did for this chapter. I would appreciate it if people could send me any suggestions that they have for my story in the comments section. Seeya next time! ^w^


	4. Chapter 4: Hero

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this fanfic

A/N: Sorry about going on Hiatus. I have been having trouble finding time to write between reading other stories, catching up to the anime, and taking care of my new puppy. My motivation isn't helped by the fact that I didn't really have very many ideas for this part. Trust me though, the wait will be worth it. As always R&R, F&F. And if you feel the need to look at the reviews, make sure to read the stories of those people as well.

**Chapter 4: Hero  
**

* * *

Kakashi, who had passed out on the way to the house, opened his eye with a groan. He tried to look around, but it hurt too much to turn his head, so he settled for staring at the ceiling. He lay there, mulling over his memories of the battle and the events that followed. He had been thinking for nearly an hour, when he heard the door open. A woman he had never seen before walked over to him, smiling when she saw he was awake, "Good, you're awake. I guess that means I should get your students and Tazuna." She left to get them, coming back with the others less than a minute later.

Kakashi proceeded to tell them about his suspicions. "Okay I think that we need to prepare for more trouble." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I mean that Zabuza will be back, and he will bring another ninja with him, most likely." He replied. "While you all performed well against him, next time he won't underestimate you."

"So, what are we going to do about it?" Naruto asked.

"We are going to train of course." Kakashi said with a smile.

This immediately gained the attention of the genin.

"Train how?" Naruto asked, wondering how he could teach them anything in this state.

"You'll find out tomorrow." Kakashi replied with an eye smile.

After this the genin relaxed around the house and began to think about what tomorrow would bring.

The team found themselves in the forest the next morning, awaiting their sensei who was at a slower pace due to crutches, and anticipating what the training would be like.

Kakashi arrived, "Okay, today I think that you should work on your chakra control." Kakashi said.

"How are we going to do that, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"By climbing trees." He stated simply with a smile.

"We already know how to climb trees." Sasuke said a bit irritably.

"Oh? Can you climb trees without using your hands?" Kakashi asked.

"No way, that's not possible." Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't respond, he simply walked toward the nearest tree and began to walk up the trunk with no effort.

"How are you doing that?" Sakura asked with a hint of awe in her voice.

"This is a simple chakra control and building exercise." Kakashi said.

"And how exactly is this last minute training supposed to help us fight Zabuza?", Sakura asked, crossing her arms.

"We only won last time because of you guys. Any improvement on your part, no matter how slight, could tip the balance of the fight in our favor.", Kakashi answered.

After a short explanation, they had all picked a tree and were attempting to climb. Sakura, naturally, proceeded quicker than the others, reaching the first branch on her first try. By noon, Sakura had nearly made it to the top, Sasuke had made it a few branches up, while Naruto had yet to make it to the first branch, much to his frustration. Kakashi, after lunch, told them that Tsunami needed to head to the market to get more food for dinner, and to keep her safe, Sakura volunteered to go with her.

As they walked around she came to realize just how sad and pathetic the country was. The food vendors had very little food, the buildings were in need of repairs, and everyone had a look of utter defeat about them. It was as if their spirits had been broken. Most of the children would come up and beg for food, and it tore at her heart to turn them away.

Back in the forest, Naruto's gears were turning as he ate his small lunch. After they ate lunch, Kakashi was about to leave when Naruto stopped him, "Kakashi-sensei, I have a few questions." This got Kakashi's attention. Naruto rarely asks questions, usually preferring to figure things out on his own.

"Okay, shoot.", Kakashi said, turning around. He sat down and leaned against a tree.

"First, am I correct that experiences and memories from my shadow clones transfer to me when they expire?"

"Yes, that's true. The shadow clone jutsu was originally meant for surveillance and spying. If they got caught, they could just dispel and send all of the knowledge they gained back to the user."

"Now, my other question. Am I correct that chakra control is more of a mental ability than physical?"

"Yes, that's true. What are you getting at?", Kakashi was trying to figure out what he was planning, but he didn't have to wait long.

"So, can't I make a bunch of clones and have them train? Wouldn't that make this kind of training so much quicker?", Naruto was grinning now, happy about his moment of wit.

Kakashi was surprised, he hadn't thought of that before. He sat there wide eyed, thinking of the possibilities. He snapped out of it when Naruto waved a hand in his face, reminding him that he was asked a question. "Oh, well, I suppose that could work, but nobody has ever tried it before. Shadow clones take lots of chakra, and combining that with training can lead to severe chakra exhaustion, or even death."

"Well then, it's a good thing that I have so much chakra isn't it? **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", suddenly, there was a score of Naruto clones littering the forest. "Kakashi, I think that I'll continue working on my seals, while my clones train. Is that okay with you?", he looked at Kakashi, who was eye smiling.

"Naruto, I think that we may have just found the perfect way to train you.", he said before getting up and walking away, leaving Naruto and Sasuke there to train.

Sasuke, during the whole exchange, had been practicing, only stopping when he heard Naruto making shadow clones. He prepared the kunai he was holding, expecting they were being attacked, but turned around to see only Naruto, Kakashi being hidden from view by the trees. "Hey dobe, why did you make a bunch of shadow clones? We aren't being attacked are we?", Sasuke looked around, knowing that he should never let his guard down.

"No, we're not being attacked teme, I'm just using them for training.", the real Naruto said before sitting down and starting to work on a seal. Sasuke, after seeing there was no danger, went back to training. He didn't know how, but he guessed that using the clones would somehow allow him to train faster, and Sasuke did not want to fall behind the dobe.

A little before sunset, Naruto had dispelled all of his clones, and spent about half an hour trying to climb the tree himself, adjusting the flow using the knowledge from his clones. By this time, Sasuke was three fifths up the tree, and was ready to call it a day. He looked on, wide eyed as Naruto ran up the tree, making it three quarters of the way before he was pushed off the trunk of the tree from his chakra, landing on a branch. He looked down at Sasuke, a big grin on his face, causing Sasuke's surprised expression to turn into one of contempt.

* * *

Soon, they were at the house, both of them tired, Naruto more mentally than physically, but both low on chakra. They walked in as dinner was being served. About halfway through the meal, Sasuke put his utensils down and looked at Kakashi, "I want you to teach me the shadow clone jutsu."

Kakashi sighed, lowering his head, "You want to train like Naruto did, don't you?", Kakashi asked, though he already knew the answer. He continued after a nod from Sasuke, "Tell me, how much chakra do you think you have, compared to me", he inquired back, receiving a shrug in response. "You have, around half, from what I've seen, as you are now. All things considered, that's impressive considering you're a genin and who I am.", Kakashi gestured to himself. Kakashi sighed again when he saw Sasuke smirk, "Naruto though, has, alone, around four times as much chakra as I do. I don't think that I could even attempt to do the training that Naruto is doing. If I did, I could probably only manage a few shadow clones, and only be able to do it for maybe an hour, which would end up costing me training time. If I wouldn't be able to do it, then there is no way in hell or earth that you could do it as you are now.", he finished, glaring at the Uchiha, who seemed dumbfounded.

Sakura, who had been completely confused the whole exchange, finally spoke up, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Naruto thought up a new method of training that uses shadow clones to exponentially increase improvement rate.", Kakashi said, turning to look at Sakura, who was nodding in understanding. "Because of certain circumstances though, only people like Naruto could possibly attempt this training method, those circumstances that I have just explained."

"Namely somebody with an ungodly amount of chakra?", she asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"To continue, Sasuke, maybe in a few years, you could have more chakra than me, and then you could attempt this, but as it stands, you'd just end up dying if you attempted it.", Kakashi got up, surprising everybody who hadn't even realized he had eaten anything yet. He had apparently eaten in between sentences, when all the others weren't looking.

Kakashi was about to continue, when someone else spoke first, "Let him, he's just gonna die against Gato anyway." They all turned to see a little kid, who they had somehow missed before now. "The weak can't fight the strong, they just end up getting killed. Gato is strong, you can't win!"

They were all silent, all for their different reasons. The silence was broken, however, when Naruto burst out laughing, getting looks of confusion from those present. He stopped and got up, walking over to the kid, "Hey kid, what's your name?"

"My name's Inari.", he replied, backing away when Naruto crouched so their eyes were level.

"Well listen up Inari, because I'm not going to repeat this. Gato is weak, we are strong. Got it? Good.", Naruto was smiling the whole time, and was moving to go back to his seat when Inari spoke up.

"You don't know anything about us! You don't know how strong he is! What do you know about pain?!", Inari yelled, causing Naruto to stop dead in his tracks, Kakashi to visibly flinch, and Sasuke to grimace.

Before anybody could stop him, Naruto had rushed back to Inari, picked him up by the front of his shirt, and was pressing him against the wall, "You're wrong, you're the one who doesn't know anything." his voice was calm, but you could see the anger in his eyes, and if you looked closely, you could also see the pain, as Inari did. "I'll be right back guys, I need to have a little chat with him.", with that, Naruto slung him over his shoulder, much to Inari's protests, and walked upstairs with him.

Tsunami made a move to stop him, but was stopped by Kakashi, "Don't worry, Naruto isn't going to hurt him...", he trailed off as they heard a door slam, "... that bad."

* * *

Upstairs, in Inari's room, Naruto dropped him onto the floor. Inari, who had crawled to the other side of the room, was nursing a bump on his head and glaring at Naruto. Naruto returned the glare without flinching for several minutes, until Inari looked away. After several more moments of silence, Naruto walked over to Inari and punched him in the back of the head, knocking off his hat. "What'd you do that for?!", Inari yelled, moving to pick up his hat. Naruto, however, picked it up and held it out of Inari's reach. "Give that back, it's not yours!", Inari yelled.

"Not until after we talk.", Naruto sat down and took out a scroll, sealing away the hat so that Inari couldn't take it while they were talking. After rolling up the scroll, Naruto sighed and set it aside. "Why do you believe that Gato is strong?", Naruto asked. It was a simple question, but Inari seemed reluctant to answer, and just kept staring at the scroll. Seeing this, Naruto tossed it over to him, "Take a look, your not going to be able to get it out of there without mine or my friends' help, and I don't think they're willing. You better start explaining."

Inari, after a few minutes of examining the scroll and completely unraveling it, not able to find his hat, he sighed. He threw the scroll back at Naruto, who easily caught it, "Fine, if you wanna know so badly!", He went into a detailed description about his father, a man called Kaiza. He had appeared in the country about three years ago. He wasn't Inari's real father but he had saved his life one day and they were inseparable ever since. Kaiza had a saying, "When you love something, protect it with both of your arms." He was a man of courage and everyone looked up to him as a symbol of strength, but then Gato came. Kaiza was the only one to rise up against Gato, but despite this, it had taken Gato's entire team of goons to capture him. After having Kaiza's arms broken, bruised, and all but torn off, Gato had Kaiza killed in front of the entire Wave Country to show them what would happen should they try to oppose him. With the death of the man they considered to be the hero of the wave, all of the people backed down and no one tried to stop Gato from taking over.

Inari was now sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall opposite Naruto, "He promised me he would protect us, but all he did was get himself killed!", Inari was on the verge of tears. "Why do you all keep..." the boy began quietly before exploding. "Why do you all bother to try so hard! It doesn't matter how much you train, you'll die if you go up against Gato! Don't you realize that! When facing the strong, the weak will only end up being _killed_!"

Halfway through his tirade, tears began to freely pour down Inari's face as he sobbed. Naruto looked away from crying boy and stared out the window at the rolling waves. He walked over and sat next to Inari, who was still sobbing. If anyone were watching, it would have looked like Naruto was about to wrap his arm around the boy, but instead hit him on the back of the head again. "Why do you keep doing that?!", Inari yelled, getting up and staring at Naruto, looking like he was about to pounce. Naruto grabbed the front of Inari's shirt again, lifting him off the ground as he stood up. Inari grabbed Naruto's hand in a futile attempt to make him let go.

"You aren't the only one who knows what it feels like to lose something precious to you, kid." Naruto said bringing his face close to Inari's. " My teammate, the raven haired emo down there, his name is Sasuke Uchiha. When Sasuke was around you're age, he lost his family.", Naruto spoke calmly.

"Yeah, I've already told you, I-", Inari began.

Naruto shook him, "I wasn't finished brat. Sasuke is, or should I say was, part of a very powerful and large clan, the Uchiha clan. When I say he lost his family, I mean his entire family, more than 80 people that were his flesh and blood.", This got Inari's attention. He started shivering, thinking about if he lost his grandpa and mother. "He was there as well, he saw the devastation. Do want to know who killed them?" Naruto asked. Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, the person Sasuke looked up to, had killed their entire family."

Inari looked down, not even resisting Naruto anymore. "That's not all.", Naruto said, causing Inari to look back at him. Naruto, more because his arm was getting tired than anything, put Inari down and leaned back against the wall. "I won't go into much detail, because he's not willing to tell me much about it.", Naruto looked out the window again, this time at the stars. "Kakashi-sensei, when he was just a little kid, his dad committed suicide. A few years after that, when he was just starting to get over that loss, he lost one of his teammates, his best friend. He won't tell me much about Rin, his other teammate, but I know she died sometime not long after, and he feels that he's responsible, and somebody that he had sworn to his best friend that he would protect. Then, around twelve years ago, he lost his sensei, the last person that he cared about.", Naruto started chuckling, much to Inari's confusion. "I guess you could say that it's my fault that his sensei died. Kami knows you wouldn't be the first."

"What do you mean, how can it be your fault? If you were even alive back then, then you were just a baby.", Inari was thoroughly confused now.

"I don't know you well enough to talk about that. But I will tell you this. Sasuke, despite the fact that his entire clan was murdered, was accepted by the rest of the village. They took care of him, gave him anything that he could ask for that they could give. And Kakashi, well, when he lost his father, he was technically already a Chunin, higher ranked than me. By the time he lost the rest of his loved ones, he was old enough to take care of himself, and was already a Jonin. He was respected by the village, and lived a peaceful, if lonely, life.", Naruto let out a sigh.

"I wish that I had had their lives. Anything would be better than what I've gone through.", he shook his head.

"How could wish their lives upon yourself, I can't imagine anything worse than that.", Inari was still sniveling, but not because he was sad for himself, but for what Naruto had told him.

Naruto fixed him with a stern gaze, "I honestly can't say, really, if I actually would be happier being in their shoes, mostly because my life is getting better, and also because I haven't actually lived their lives. Do you really want to know about my life?", he asked, and continued after a small nod from Inari, "My earliest memory was waking up one day to find I had been dragged out of my apartment by a group of men, who, for reasons I hadn't understood, were beating me and cursing me. They had dragged me out into the middle of the street, and I barely tried to resist, I believe because it wasn't the first time it had happened, and I knew I couldn't stop them. People walked by, doing nothing to stop them. Others stopped and watched, egging them on. Others joined in and started beating me as well."

Naruto, who had continued looking out the window, let that sink in. He turned back to see that Inari just sat there, wide eyed, moving his mouth, but no words would come out. Finally finding his voice, he asked, "Why did nobody help you? Where were your parents?"

"I don't have parents. Well, technically I do, but they died shortly after I was born, or at least that's what I've been told. If that wasn't the truth then it wouldn't be the first lie that I was told by the village leaders."

"But, why were they doing this? You said that you didn't know then, but do you know now?"

"Yes, I know now, but as I said earlier, I don't know you well enough to talk about it. Basically, events surrounding the time of my birth caused the death of an important person, who was also Kakashi's sensei."

"Well, being beaten is horrible and all, but that one incident isn't that bad.", Inari said, starting to think Naruto may just be over dramatic.

Those doubts were thrown out the window when Naruto jumped up and pinned him to the wall. "That was not one incident, that was my life. Every other day, if I was lucky, I would either get beaten, chased, or harassed by anywhere from a mob of villagers to an ignorant drunk. Not only did I not have any parents, but I didn't have any friends because their parents wouldn't let me near their child. I would routinely be denied by shopkeepers who would push me out of their store before I even had the chance to ask for what I wanted. Some days I would come home to find that my apartment had been broken into, and I would be forced to wander the streets, waiting until the person left, which would sometimes take days, depending on the person.", Naruto was shaking, barely holding back tears.

"The worst thing they ever did to me though, was ignore me. I would beg and plead, but they would just walk right by me, acting as if I didn't even exist. Whenever they talked about me, they never used my name, I was just 'that boy'! Do you know what it feels like to not even be acknowledged as a person? To be seen as something less than human, regarded like I was evil incarnate." Naruto had stopped trying to suppress the tears and just let them flow. "I was shunned, scorned, beaten, and abused. You know what? I could have dealt with it. I could have been happy, I could have had some part of a happy life if just one person had cared for me, had acknowledged me as Naruto Uzumaki.", Now a small smile appeared on his face, even though the tears were still flowing.

Naruto set him down, "The difference between us and you is that we continue to fight. We refuse to let what happened to us stop us from doing what's right. Sasuke didn't give up. He strove to be the strongest, if for no other reason then to kill his brother and avenge his clan. Kakashi, despite losing everybody he cared for, continued to protect the village, the village his teammates and sensei had died to protect, the village that had driven his father to death. Despite being scorned by the village because of my very existence, I kept going, doing whatever it took for people to notice me. Eventually, I found people that I genuinely cared for, and I am genuinely happy, for the first time in my life." Images of Iruka, Teuchi, and The Hokage passed through his head. Then images of his team, who were important to him as well.

"You are right about one thing, the strong do always crush the weak," Naruto agreed. "But your perception of strength and weakness is flawed. This Gato that you fear so much is nothing. Nothing but a worm. A parasite who feeds on the terror of his victims. The true measure of a person's strength isn't how well they fight, or how much money they have. No, it's the number of times they rise to their feet and continue on after being knocked down on their ass." Naruto said a large grin spreading across his face. He was kneeling now, his hands on Inari's shoulders.

"But, dad didn't get back up. He promised to protect us, and he failed. He lied to me! He-"

Inari was interrupted when Naruto thumped his hand down hard onto the top of Inari's head, "He was true man, a hero who fought and died to protect those he loved. I can only hope that when I eventually do die, I do it protecting those I care for.", He said, ruffling Inari's head. In that moment, he re minded Inari so much of Kaiza, who had spoken inspirational words to him while in the exact same position. Inari started to cry again, and jumped forward to hug Naruto, crying into his shoulder. "Hey, Inari listen.", Naruto said, pushing Inari off of him and holding him at arms length, "Crying will only make you weaker, it will only make Gato stronger. So be strong, strong for your father's sake. What do you think your father would say if he saw you moping about all day.", Inari had stopped crying and wiped away his tears with his arm. "Hey, how about this? When we finally get Gato, I'll personally drag him over to you and you can kick his ass. Sound like a deal?", smiling, he held out his hand in a fist. Inari sniffed once more and nodded, a grin to match Naruto's forming on his face. He held out his hand and fist-bumped, a laugh forming in his throat.

* * *

The two of them walked back downstairs, Inari's hat returned to him, and a big grin on his face. Tsunami and Tazuna looked at Inari in surprise, neither had expected to see that smile for a long while. Naruto sat down with a grin on his face, and continued to eat his now cold food. Kakashi, looking up from his book, was confused as well, "What did you do Naruto? I hope you didn't knock him around too much and make him go crazy."

"Actually, we just talked.", he said, but looked up to see an incredulous look his teammates' faces, "Fine, I hit him a few times, but only when did something stupid.", he admitted. Kakashi nodded, satisfied.

Tsunami was hugging Inari, almost crying in joy at seeing that smile, "What did you two talk about up there? We heard a few thumps, but your team told us not to worry. He didn't hurt you, did he?", she asked, checking him over.

"No, I'm fine. Nii-san just taught me what true strength is, and that I should be proud of Dad.", Inari said, his smile never leaving his face.

"I don't know how you did it Naruto, but you gave me back my grandson.", Tazuna said, clearly tipsy, and wiping away tears.

"Hehe, it was nothing.", Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

Tomorrow found them continuing the training, but this time with considerably more Naruto clones. There were dozens of clones littering the forest, most of them walking up trees, some were working on seals, and a few, including the real Naruto, were sparring. By sparring, it was more of Naruto in the center being surrounded by his clones. Every time the real Naruto beat one clone, another would take it's place. This continued until lunch, which came via Inari. By the time he got there their were only three clones left around Naruto. Inari stood back and watched, not wanting to interrupt.

Naruto was staring into the eyes of his clone. Naruto was tired from the constant sparring, whereas 'Naruto' was fresh. They squared off, shuffling in a wide circle, never breaking eye contact. Suddenly, 'Naruto' charged Naruto, who easily dodged the punch with a sidestep. 'Naruto' followed it up by unclenching his fist and, using his hand for support, swung a kick into Naruto's abdomen. Immediately after being hit, Naruto grabbed 'Naruto's' leg and pulled him closer. He quickly grabbed a kunai with his free hand and stabbed it into the clones neck. Inari flinched and closed eyes, expecting to have seen blood. Instead, he heard a *poof*, and opened his eyes to see a small cloud of smoke disappearing.

Not skipping a beat, Naruto turned around in time to block the shuriken thrown at him by the two remaining clones with his kunai. They split up and ran at him from both sides. Naruto, his gaze switching between the two of them, jumped up at the last second, causing them to run into eachother. As he was falling, he straightened his legs and kicked both of them, smashing their heads into the ground. There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared there was the real Naruto laying on the ground panting.

"That was amazing Nii-san! I've never seen anybody fight like that before.", Inari said, running up to Naruto and helping him into a sitting position. "How and why were you fighting yourself though?", he asked.

"It's called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and I was fighting myself because I was training.", he responded, standing up. "Besides, if you think that was impressive, you should see Kakashi-sensei fight, he's incredible."

"Okay, listen up mes, finish up whatever you're working on and follow me.", he spoke to all of his clones, who all responded, "**Yes sir!**" Naruto chuckled and headed over to wear Sasuke had been training. Naruto looked around for a few minutes, no able to find him. "Hey, Sasuke-teme, you got to the top, right?", he yelled up into a tree, confusing Inari.

Inari jumped when Sasuke dropped down from the top of the tree, "Of course, it was child's play.", he said with a smirk.

"Whatever, lunch is here.", he said, gesturing to Inari. Suddenly Inari was set upon by all of the clones, each asking for lunch. Naruto sighed and released the jutsu. The information from the dozens of clones all reached him at once, and he stumbled backwards a few steps, then promptly fell down on.

"Whoa, still getting used to that." He said, shaking his head. Inari handed him his lunch, and Naruto thanked him.

After Sasuke finished with his lunch, he got up and started walking away, "I'm done here. I'm going to see if Kakashi-sensei has anything that's actually worth my time.", he said.

Naruto finished soon after, "You know Inari, instead of sitting here doing nothing, you could be helping you grandfather build the bridge, I'm sure he'd appreciate the help."

Inari shook his head, "I asked Mom and she said I couldn't, that construction was dangerous and I wasn't old enough. Besides, I like watching you train.", Inari said with a smile.

"Whatever, I'll show you what we've been training to do out here then we can head back.", he said, walking over to a tree. Inari watched as Naruto gathered chakra into the bottoms of his feet, and ran up the trunk of the tree. He stopped about halfway to the first branch and looked back at Inari, "See, I bet that neither Gato or his goons can do this!", he called down, and then ran all the way up to the top. Inari waited for a few moments and Naruto dropped down in the same manner as Sasuke.

"You head on back, I'm going to stay out here and train.", he said, preparing to make more shadow clones. He turned back to Inari and said, "Oh, and tell Sasuke that if he wants to keep up with me then taking a break isn't a good idea. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", suddenly about a hundred Narutos popped up in the forest and he started delegating them to different tasks. He took most of them and started another sparring session.

Kakashi showed up around dinner time to find that Naruto had taken all of his clones, even the ones that had previously been working on other things, and was fighting all of them at once. Kakashi's eye widened, '_He's already starting to figure out how to do that? You're advancing even faster than I had hoped._', he thought to himself, and after watching him for a bit, placed Naruto's dinner on the edge of the clearing and left, proud of his student.

* * *

Naruto was laying on the ground in the middle of the forest. He could feel the warmth of the sun on him, and the dew on the grass, so it was clearly late morning. He felt a tap on his forehead protector and heard the fluttering of wings. He was dimly aware of a presence next to him. He suddenly reached out and grabbed a hand that had been reaching towards him, causing the birds that were using him as a perch to fly away.

"What are you doing?", Naruto said as he opened his eyes. Kneeling next to him was a fairly attractive girl, slightly older than him, in a pink kimono. She had been reaching for his shoulder when he grabbed her.

"Sorry, I thought you were asleep and was going to wake you up. It's not wise to sleep on the forest floor.", she said, pulling back her hand.

"Okay then, who are you and what are you doing here?", he asked. He blushed after he got a look at her face, '_Wow, she's prettier than Sakura-chan._' Seeing him blush, she giggled, causing the blush to spread.

"I'm gathering medicinal herbs, for poultices and medicines.", she stood up and walked back over to her basket.

"Alright, what's your name?", Naruto asked, standing up.

"My my, you're eager to get to know me.", she said turning back to him, giggling again when she saw his blush return.

"No, it's not like that, it's just, I um... I want to know your name in case I ever meet you again. I want to know what to call you.", he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, my name is Haku.", she said, crouching down and continuing to gather the herbs.

"Here, let me help you with that, it will be a lot quicker if you have somebody helping you. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", he made 3 clones, who all went to gather herbs. The real Naruto sat close the Haku, handing her the herbs he picked and asking her if it was the right kind.

"So, why exactly did you decide to take a nap on the forest floor? It can't have been because it was comfortable. You know you could have caught a cold.", she said as he handed her more herbs.

"Actually, I was training so hard that I passed out. I don't have to worry about a cold though, I've never been sick a day in my life.", he said, seemingly proud of his accomplishment.

"Really, not a single day? That is impressive.", she said, genuinely amazed by this, '_Hm, I should probably tell Zabuza-sama, see what he thinks._', "Anyway, why were you training so hard? Is it for a certain goal, or do you wish to be stronger simply for strength's sake?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Is there a reason you wish to become stronger?"

"Yeah, I wanna become the greatest Hokage. That's why I need to train, so the village will acknowledge me.", Naruto said.

"For acknowledgement? I suppose that is a valid reason. I have another question. Do you have somebody precious to you?"

"Precious, what do you mean?", Naruto asked.

"Is there somebody that you care for, that you would give your life for, that you love?", she asked.

Naruto, taking it the wrong way, "Whoa, whoa, who's being a little forward now? Besides, I think you'd have a bit of competition.", He said, his thoughts going to Hinata, and her feelings towards him.

This earned another giggle, "That's not exactly what I meant. I meant more like a parent or best friend."

"Oh, well, I don't have any parents but...", he thought of everybody that had been kind to him, "Yes, I have lots of people that I would die for."

"I see. When somebody has someone precious to them, someone to protect, only then can they become genuinely strong.", she said, standing up, "I think I have enough herbs for now. We'll meet again someday.", she walked away.

Naruto stared after her until she disappeared. He was lost in thoughts until he heard a thump behind him, "What are you doing out her dobe, did you forget about breakfast?", Sasuke said as Naruto turned around and stood up.

"Nope, I was training so hard that I passed out.", he said with a grin.

"Heh, just proves your weak. An Uchiha would never pass out from training.", Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Whatever, let's see you back that up. Come on, let's spar, I wanna see what you've got.", Naruto said, getting into the taijutsu stance taught at the academy. "Only taijutsu."

"Sure, I could use a quick warm up. Besides, I don't need anything other than taijutsu to defeat you.", He said, getting into the taijutsu stance that had been used by most Uchiha.

Sasuke was the first to attack, rushing in and feinting a punch, but instead performed a leg sweep, expecting to be able to pin him afterwards and finish it with that. What he didn't expect was for Naruto jump over the sweep and kick Sasuke in the face. The kick sent Sasuke flying back a few feet. He quickly recovered and landed in a crouch. Spitting out a globule of blood, he smirked at Naruto, "Seems you've gotten a bit stronger. Guess I'll have to take this a bit more seriously.", he said, as both returned to their starting stances.

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura went searching for the two of them. Sasuke had volunteered to find Naruto, but hadn't come back. Fearing it may be the work of Gato, Kakashi didn't want to risk sending out Sakura all by herself, so he accompanied her. He was greatly relieved however when he came upon the two of them 'sparring' in the forest. It wasn't really sparring so much as an all out Taijutsu free-for-all, the only rule being to not seriously harm your opponent.

Of course that's not to say they weren't using kunai and shuriken. In fact, weapons were littering the forest, but if you looked closely, neither of them had laid a scratch on the other. Well, that's not entirely true, both had their clothes torn in several places, Naruto more than Sasuke. In truth, Naruto had gained several small cuts, all of which healed almost instantly. Both had bruises though, and more were forming. Sakura stood in awe of their fight, '_When did Naruto get strong enough to even be able to hold his own against Sasuke-kun?_' Kakashi was just smiling, proud of his student's strength.

Naruto charged in, fast, but not really in any fighting style, and punched Sasuke in the jaw. Sasuke grabbed the arm and threw Naruto into one of the trees nearby. Naruto righted himself in midair and pushed off of the tree, and flipping into a crouch. Not wasting his time, he charged Sasuke again, this time, going for a punch to the gut. Sasuke dodge this, but didn't have time to counterattack because Naruto kept going at him with a flurry of punches and kicks, which took all of Sasuke's concentration to dodge and block. Seeing his chance, he jumped away and reached into his weapon pouch.

Sasuke was crouched and preparing to throw his last shuriken, Naruto had out a kunai and was ready to either dodge or block. Sasuke threw his shuriken and Naruto dodged to the right. Counting on this, Sasuke had thrown a kunai where Naruto dodged. Naruto jumped up and attached himself to the tree behind him. Sasuke, not willing to lose his advantage, began picking up kunai and shuriken from the ground around him as he ran around the clearing, throwing them at Naruto, who just jumped from tree to tree, avoiding the projectiles.

Naruto kept dodging around until he saw an opening and took it. Jumping down on top of Sasuke, he pinned him to the ground, holding a Kunai to his throat. "Check-", Naruto started, a smile on his face.

"-mate", Sasuke finished, with a confident smirk. Naruto felt a small prick at his stomach and looked to see that Sasuke had a kunai ready to stab into Naruto's stomach.

They looked up when they heard clapping to see Kakashi and Sakura applauding their fight. "Well done! I'd expect nothing less from you two. It seems this extra chakra control training was actually worth your time, wasn't it?", Kakashi said, walking over to them with the aid of his crutches.

"Yeah, they've definitely gotten better, but I'm not sure how what we did could possibly make you improve so much, Naruto.", Sakura said, walking beside Kakashi.

"Well, you see, I discovered this cool trick on my own.", Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head, "You know how we can send chakra to different parts of our body for different purposes, right? Like send it to our ears to hear better and our feet so we stick to something.", he received a nod from Sakura. He continued, "Well, I figure out that if you send some chakra to your muscles, you can move faster and hit harder. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I thought that's what you had been working on last night when I dropped off your dinner. You know, most ninja actually do that.", Kakashi said.

Naruto deflated, "You mean it's not something new that I invented? That sucks."

"Well, then again, most ninja that use it are chunin, and they don't figure out how to do it on their own, but are rather taught it.", Kakashi said. Naruto raised his head, "So, considering that, finding it out on your own was impressive. Few actually master the skill, them being the Current Raikage and Tsunade-sama, one of the Sannin.", Kakashi finished. "The thing is though, that doing it depletes your chakra levels, are you feeling tired at all?"

"Yeah, a little. But then again I did just finish an intense 'spar' with Sasuke and I haven't eaten any breakfast yet. Honestly though, Sensei, you should be more worried about him.", Naruto said, pointing his thumb towards Sasuke, who was still breathing hard.

"You told hm how to do it and he tried it himself, right?", Kakashi looked at Sasuke and then back towards Naruto, who gave him a nod. "Sasuke, I advise you to be careful when using this, for the same reason you can't use the Shadow Clone training method. You have to get better chakra control and larger chakra reserves.", Kakashi looked towards Sasuke, who didn't look pleased, "Just so you know, you don't really need to us it right now anyway. You were fighting on par with Naruto and you were barely improving yourself at all using it, while he must have been doubling his strength and speed at least. That's as impressing as Naruto's accomplishment."

Sasuke smirked and looked at Naruto, his ego inflating. "Now that that's settled, it's time to get down to business. I'm happy that you two have been training and improving yourselves, but we have a job to do.", Kakashi told them, hearing Naruto groan. "After we get back and you two have had a rest and something to eat, then you're going to the bridge, while I train Sakura for a bit. Sakura has been guarding Tazuna since we got here, and, excluding the first half of the first day, hasn't had a chance to really train. If anything happens, send a clone after us Naruto."

* * *

It was Naruto's turn to guard the side of the bridge that was still under construction. He sat on the ground, working on his seals, making sure that he wasn't in anybody's way, looking up whenever he heard an odd sound or raised voice. It went by for about half an hour before Naruto started pulling his hair and yelled, "I'm bored!", and startled all the workers there. "You know what, I've got an idea. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**", suddenly there around forty Narutos on the bridge, twice as many people that were working on the bridge.

Tazuna walked up to him, "What's the problem? You nearly gave all my workers heart attacks thinking that we were being attacked!", he said, looking at all of the clones in confusion.

"Well, I'm having some of these clones go on patrol, wouldn't you agree that having fifteen people watching for the enemy is more likely to spot them than just two? Also, I'm having the rest help you with construction. The less time it takes for the bridge to get finished, the less time I'm going have to spend guarding you guys.", He looked towards Tazuna, "So, would you like around thirty extra unpaid workers?", Naruto asked, getting a dumbfounded nod in return.

By the end of the day, they had gotten so much work done that estimated time for the completion of the bridge was cut down from a week to three days, and that's if Naruto doesn't help for the next three days. Of course, all of this took a toll on Naruto, as he had worked as well, doing the work of two men. That, combined with his intense training for the past few days, left him sore and exhausted, even with his inhuman stamina. He didn't even have the energy to eat dinner, just going upstairs and collapsing onto his bed, not even bothering to change his clothes.

* * *

It was just before eight when Tazuna went to the bridge with the team of ninja, excluding Naruto as he was still asleep. Kakashi had been told how hard Naruto had worked, and decided that it would be best if he got as much rest as possible. They had just made it to the bridge, when they all stopped in their tracks. Laying all around, were the bodies of all the men that were helping Tazuna build the bridge. He ran up to one, "What happened here?!"

"A-A Monster!", said the one Tazuna was holding, before he passed out.

Suddenly, a mist enveloped the bridge, so thick that they could barely see eachother. "They're here.", Kakashi said, signaling for his students to get in formation around Tazuna, while taking out a kunai and bringing his other hand up to move his headband.

Naruto woke up about ten minutes later. Looking around, he noticed that Sasuke and Kakashi weren't in their bedrolls, and their weapons were gone. He also didn't hear any sounds from downstairs except for Tsunami's humming. He rushed down the steps, "Where is everybody?"

"Oh, you're already awake. Kakashi said that we should let you rest, and he went ahead with Father and the others.", Tsunami replied, surprised that he was already up and about.

"I knew, they left me behind!", Naruto yelled, running back upstairs to get his ninja gear. "I'm off!", he sprinted out the door.

"Damn it, why didn't they wake me up?", he asked himself as he was bounding through the trees. He stopped when he heard a rustle and mumbling come from the ground, to the right of him. '_What's that?_'

* * *

Inari was in the bathroom washing his hands when he heard a crash and his mother scream. He ran downstairs, but stopped at the bottom step when he saw two large men with katanas holding his mother between them, dragging her out the door. Thankfully, they hadn't noticed him, but as Tsunami was being dragged, she was looking behind her into the house, and spotted Inari. She smiled at him, and mouthed, 'quiet', and stopped struggling. As soon as they were out of view, he broke down, sobbing. He suddenly remembered what Naruto had told him, '_"Crying will only make you weaker, it will only make Gato stronger. So be strong, strong for your father's sake. What do you think your father would say if he saw you moping about all day."_', Inari raised his head and wiped his tears with his arm. Going into the kitchen, he picked up a knife and ran out the door, intent on saving his mother.

It only took about a minute to catch up to them, but they had already reached the forest. "Stop right there! I'm not gonna let you hurt my mom!", he yelled, running at the two men, holding his knife.

"Heh, looks like the little punk wants to die.", said Zouri, grabbing the handle of his sword.

"Sure, I feel like cutting something.", said Waraji, who pulled his sword out a few inches.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!", Inari yelled, knowing he'd most likely die.

"Inari!", Tsunami screamed, dreading this moment.

The two thugs charged and cut the kid into three pieces. smirking, they sheathe their swords and listened for the sound of body parts hitting the dock. Instead they heard... wood? They turned around to see that they had cut a log. They looked up to see Naruto setting down Tsunami , who had passed out from the fear, and had Inari slung over his shoulder, "You know, you guys really shouldn't mess with the friends of a ninja, it's not healthy.", Naruto said, grinning and looking back at them. He looked back at Inari, "Great job, Inari. You distracted them, letting me get your mom out of danger."

"Heh, it' just you, brat, against the two of us. What do you think you can do?", Waraji said, pulling out his sword again.

"Actually, I was told that this kid can make clones of himself. But then again, zero times ten is still zero.", Zouri smirked, drawing his blade as well.

Naruto turned around the big grin still on his face, reaching into the holster on his thigh, he pulled out three shuriken. The two thugs charged Naruto, blocking the two shuriken sent their way. "Hah, this kid, can't even aim right.", Zouri said, noticing the third that disappeared into the forest to their right. They were about halfway to him when they heard a *twang* from the place where the shuriken had disappeared. Before they could react, the chain that The Demon Brothers had used flew out of the forest, two small weights on the ends of it, and wrapped around the two of them, cutting into them and preventing them from moving, unless they wanted their arms and torso to be ripped to shreds.

Inari looked away from the blood that was dripping from the men, and instead towards Naruto, who's expression had changed into an impassive frown. "I'm sorry it took me so long Inari, but I had heard them walking through the forest, complaining that they wouldn't get to kill anyone. Guessing that they would take a hostage, I set up my trap and waited. Besides, hero's always come a little late, don't they?", Naruto asked, his big, goofy grin returning. After receiving an enthusiastic nod from Inari, he went over to the two men and tied them up with a regular rope and then took off the chain.

"To be honest Inari, I'm a shadow clone. The real me is on his way to the bridge. I suspect that not only were you and your mother attacked, but so was the bridge.", he said as he went over to the water to clean the blood off of the chain. After that was done, he made another two shadow clones and had them take the thugs into town, let the townspeople decide their fate. He sealed the chain away in a scroll, picked up Tsunami, and led Inari back to the house.

* * *

The real Naruto had just reached the bridge, and was trying to get around to a place where he could enter the battle and surprise the enemy. There was a large blanket of fog covering the bridge, concentrating into a much denser cloud near the end. He was crawling along the side of the bridge, using chakra to keep himself from falling of. Occasionally he would hear the sound of metal meeting metal, concrete, or flesh. When he got to the end of the nearly completed bridge, he looked up over the edge. He gasped, his blood starting to boil. He couldn't really tell what was going on between Kakashi and Zabuza, only the occasional flash of sparks. No, what got him so angry was seeing Sasuke getting massacred by a constant storm of senbon, coming from the masked ninja, who was flitting around from mirror to mirror.

They may not see eachother as friends, more as rivals, but Naruto had started to see Sasuke as one of his precious people, someone who, if nothing else, acknowledged him for his strength and determination. Naruto felt an anger rising inside of him, felt power start to course through his veins.

"**Kill her.**", a voice said inside his head.

Sasuke was hit in the knees, and he stumbled.

'_I won't let her take someone away from me!_'

"**She must be punished.**", the voice spoke again.

The barrage stopped, but the girl prepared many needles in both hands, prepared to end it.

'_Yes, I have to kill her!_'

"**Do it now!**", the voice roared in his mind.

She threw the needles, aiming for the vital spots.

"**RAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!**", Naruto roared in the same voice and tone as the one in his head, causing the bridge to shake and the very air to vibrate. He charged, not caring where this power was coming from, not caring if he hurt Sasuke on the way to the girl, all that was left was his rage, power, and need for blood. In his charge, he smashed through one of the mirrors, barely being phased from impacting it. He charged so quickly that he intercepted the needles and they bounced off and away from his skin. He raised a clawed hand and smashed the mirror holding the girl, not giving her a chance to escape to a different one. She flew through the air, skidding across the ground, her mask smashed into tiny fragments.

Naruto crouched on all fours, preparing to charge again. He was just about to attack when the girl raised her head and looked into his eyes. Haku was awestruck at the power that Naruto was displaying. He was fast, faster than anyone she had ever seen, and he destroyed her ice mirrors as if they were nothing. She knew that she would die. She looked towards Zabuza, taking advantage of Naruto's stall. What she saw scared her. Zabuza was stationary, being held down by many dogs, with Kakashi charging him with a hand covered in intense chakra. She charged them, intent on giving her life to save her master. She knew she would die whether she stayed or ran, and so chose to sacrifice herself for her precious person.

"Naruto was brought out of it when he saw Haku charging towards Kakashi and Zabuza. Really, in Naruto's mind though, all he saw was the enemy charging another of those that he cared for. He charged again, far outclassing Haku in speed. He hit her before she had gotten halfway to them, and sent her flying. '_Sorry, Zabuza-sama, it seems I have failed you. I was not worthy to be your tool._', were her last thoughts as she flew through the air, before she blacked out.

She was unconscious, and didn't even realize that she had saved Zabuza in the end. Her body, flying from Naruto's blow, was sent on a direct path towards Kakashi as he charged Zabuza. Kakashi braced himself and ducked at the last second when he saw the movement, forcing him to stop his charge, and for his concentration to falter and his chidori to dissipate. Haku's body flew through the air and off of the bridge, going on for a while before creating a large splash as it hit the water.

Zabuza saw this and completely stopped resisting the dogs holding him down. He couldn't believe it, Haku, perhaps the only on that he cared even remotely for, was dead. He let himself fall to his knees, his mind racing, remembering how any parts of his life that could be considered pleasant, were spent training and fighting alongside Haku. Those days were gone now. True, if anybody had asked who she was to him, he would said that she was simply a tool, a tool that could be replaced, and he believed that if he kept saying it, it would stay the truth. But despite his best efforts, somehow, Haku had wormed her way past the steel shell covering his heart, and made him feel like a human, if only slightly.

Kakashi saw Zabuza's reaction to what had just occurred and called off his dogs. He rushed over to Naruto, no longer concerned about the missing-nin. Naruto, after hitting Haku for the second time, had crouched down, prepared to attach Zabuza should he try anything. He growled when he saw movement from the corner of his eye, but stopped when he turned his head to see Kakashi. Kakashi grabbed Naruto and shook him, "Naruto, snap out of it! You're not the fox, you must fight it's influence! Remember who you are, remember your team, don't let the fox take over and hurt them!", he said, his mismatched eyes boring into the red slitted eyes.

'_Kakashi-sensei, he's alright,, he's not hurt._', Naruto thought, his mind calming.

"**No, you must kill the enemy! Do not stop until you are bathed in their blood!**", the voice continued to roar.

'_No! He has given up, I don't need to kill him. Is everyone safe?_', Naruto thought, the rage being contained.

"Sasuke!", Naruto yelled, his eyes back to their regular deep blue color, and his thoughts returning to his teammate who had been in danger. He turned his head to see Sasuke lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by the water from the, now melted, mirrors. Naruto rushed back to him and turned him over, first removing all of the needles stuck into his back. Naruto sighed in relief, Sasuke was breathing, but barely. He started to remove the needles, when Kakashi's hand stopped him.

"They, may not have hit any vital spots, but if you pull them all out, then he may bleed to death. We shouldn't remove them until we can get him properly bandaged.", Kakashi said, kneeling next to Naruto, his Sharingan now covered. They heard a pained cry from behind them and turned to see Sakura running towards them, tears in her eyes, Tazuna following as fast as he could.

"Sasuke-kun, please be alright! Don't leave me yet!", She yelled, kneeling next to Naruto.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. He's still alive, and he's not in any danger.", Naruto said, putting a hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort the kunoichi. He turned to Kakashi, "Actually, I believe that I have something that may help.", the blonde said, pulling out a slip of paper, on it was a diamond shape along with a few other markings swirling out of the corners of the diamond. "I got the idea from a seal that I've seen recently. It's used to store chakra away, and when the chakra gets released, it heals the person that as the mark on them. Usually, it takes a while to store up that chakra, and it only really works when it's on a human, but I'm almost certain that I've found a way to fix that problem.", Naruto finished.

"But Naruto, experimenting with seals can be dangerous. If you made one simple mistake, it could end up harming him more than helping.", the jonin said, concerned for his student, but also surprised that Naruto had gotten to the point of creating his own seals already.

"Don't worry, it'll work, I promise you. Besides, by the way he's breathing, it sounds like he's punctured a lung. If we don't help him quickly, he may drown on his own blood.", Naruto said. Without waiting for a response, he pulled the senbon from Sasuke's chest and removed his shirt. He then smoothed the seal onto the middle of Sasuke's chest. He took out several others and place them on his arms and legs. By the time he had finished, the holes in his torso had already started to close up, the bleeding stopped. The wounds were far from healed, and if he was moved too much, the bleeding would most likely start again, but right now, he was safe.

"Naruto... how? How did you make it work?"

"I added those extra markings on it, making it so-"

"It was rhetorical, I don't really want to know. I doubt I'd understand it anyway.", Kakashi said, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I'm just glad that I have such an amazing student."

"Heh, how touching. I wish one of my teachers had been that kind to me. But then again, that would have just made killing them more difficult. Hahaha!"

They turned their heads towards the end of the bridge, the mist starting to clear. Gathered at the end was an army of thugs and mercenaries, Gato standing short at the front. "Gato, I'll make you pay for what you've done to this country.", Naruto said, standing up. He raised his eyes and glared at Gato, who took a step back.

Naruto jumped when he heard a voice from beside him, "I'm with you brat. I don't blame you for Haku, you were just protecting your comrade.", Zabuza said, his arms hanging limply at his sides. "If he had sent this army with us, I may not have lost her. Besides, I planned on killing Gato after this was all done anyway.", He continued. Using his teeth, he tore the cloth from around his mouth, "I'll take on the weaklings, you go straight for Gato, don't let him escape. He gestured towards a kunai on the ground, and opened his mouth.

Naruto, getting his meaning, placed the kunai handle so that Zabuza was gripping it with his mouth. Taking out a kunai of his own, he prepared himself. Kakashi stood next to him, ready to fight as well.

Gato, backed up, worried now, "What are you waiting for? Get them!", He yelled as he retreated towards the back of his army. The army and the three ninja charged. Zabuza and Kakashi took the lead, cutting a path through the force, Naruto coming from behind and blocking or dodging any attacks coming his way. Halfway through, he realized that it wasn't going to work. There were too many of them and the ninja were quickly being surrounded. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt flew through the air and hit the hand of someone who had been about to bisect Naruto. All of them turning, they saw almost the entire village, most of them with weapons of some kind, gathered on the bridge. Seeing his chance, Naruto made about a dozen clones, who just started tearing through the ranks. The villagers advanced slowly, threateningly. Disheartened, most of Gato's army either fled into the water or threw down their weapons and gave up.

Naruto continued on, cutting down any of the few still resisting, and reached the end of the bridge, where Gato was unsuccessfully trying to climb down a rope ladder using only one arm. "It's over Gato, there's nowhere for you to run.", Naruto said, approaching slowly, kunai in hand. When Gato looked like he was about to try his luck and jump down, Naruto rushed forward and picked him up. He dragged Gato back, any that were in the way, making a path. Naruto first stopped at Zabuza, who had taken many wounds, and was barely able to stand. "I can heal you. Just let me-"

"No, I'm fine with dying. I don't really have much to live for anymore. I don't think that I can really be happy now that Haku is gone.", he said, staring into the sky as he fell to his knees, tears flowing from his eyes.

"I can't let you kill him, but I can let you break a few bones. Other than that, his punishment is up to the village.", Naruto said, throwing Gato towards Zabuza.

Zabuza smirked down at Gato, who had just soiled himself in fear, "I guess I'll just make sure that you can't run away then.", He stood up and took a step forward. He stomped on each of Gato's legs, the bone breaking with an audible *SNAP*, accompanied by a scream of pain. Drained, Zabuza fell to the ground. He closed his eyes and sighed, content crossing his face, '_I only wish I could join you Haku, but we are destined for different worlds._'

Naruto picked Gato up, who was writhing in pain, and dragged him over to Inari, who was at the front of the group, "I promised you I'd let you kick his ass, didn't I? Go ahead.", Naruto dropped Gato to the ground and turned around. He walked towards Sasuke, who was now beginning to stir, ignoring the sounds of Gato's beating.

He crouched down next to Sasuke, examining him. Sakura had used some improvised bandages given to her by one of the villagers, and had bound Sasuke's half healed wounds. "You alright teme? That girl roughed you up pretty bad.", Naruto said with a grin.

"Whatever, like you could have done any better.", Sasuke didn't look at Naruto.

"Actually, Naruto was the one that saved you, and took out most of Gato's thugs.", Kakashi said, who was lying on the ground, exhausted.

Tazuna walked up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You kicked ass."

"I did, didn't I?"

"Shut up dobe.", Sasuke said, causing the ones around him to laugh.

* * *

It had been a few days since the battle at the bridge, and Team 7 was preparing to head out. Everyone was all healed up, Gato was in prison, and his base had been raided, the fortune he had stashed away there distributed out to the villagers. Zabuza had died not long after the battle, and he was buried in a grave at the top of a cliff, nearby the town, his sword serving as a headstone. They also made a small ceremonial marker next to his grave for Haku. Most importantly though, the bridge was finished.

"I'm going to miss you all, I had a super great time with you.", Tazuna said, not tipsy for once. "Make sure to visit sometime, there's always a place for you."

"Don't worry Old Man, I'll make sure to write.", Naruto called back.

The ninja headed off for their village, their first real test as ninja completed.

"Hey Grandpa, what are we naming the bridge? After all, it has to have a name.", Inari asked, wiping away his tears of joy.

"It should be name after our hero.", Tsunami said, picking him up.

"Yes, the Great Naruto Bridge, I like the sound of that.", Tazuna said tears flowing from his eyes as well.

* * *

Several hundred miles away, a strange thing was taking place at a fishing boat. They had just hauled up their net, when they discovered a person caught in it. They were quickly taken out, and laid on the deck. "Captain, you're going to want to see this!", one of the fisherman said.

"What is it, what did you find?", someone said, who was clearly the captain.

He walked up to them and saw a teenage girl, soaking wet, with black hair. "Check if she's breathing, quickly!", the captain ordered.

One of the sailors bent down and placed his ear next to her mouth. "She's not just breathing, she's mumbling something."

"What's she saying?"

"She's saying, 'I'm sorry'."

* * *

There it is, the fourth chapter. It actually ended up being the longest chapter yet, to I don't know what I was so worried about. I guess the fighting scenes are what made it so long. They're the first real fights that go into detail in my story, so I'd appreciate it if you could tell me how I did. I'd appreciate it if people would point out mistakes I have made, instead of just saying "Great story, update soon!" That's not to say I don't appreciate the compliments, but I'd appreciate some constructive criticism more. After all, if I'm not told I've done something wrong, how am I supposed to know to fix it.

I personally like that ending. Haku is still alive, Team 7 has finished their first true ninja mission, and they will return to the village stronger for it. What is the fate that awaits our favorite ninja? Well, you'll just have to wait! MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	5. Chapter 4 and a half: When Yang Met Yin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, I just drastically alter the circumstances of the story and their lives.

A/N: This is a short story that I thought of shortly after I released ch. 4 of my story. It's a one-shot concerning how Naruto and Hinata first met. I thought it would make a nice little mini chapter, to hold you guys over for a little bit. I hope you guys like it. Oh, the name was influenced by a comment from my friend and fellow author, albertoersa.

**Chapter 4.5: When Yang met Yin**

* * *

Team 7 was walking home after the mission to wave, all of them reflecting on what was to come next. Kakashi knew that there would be a lot of paperwork, and many headaches before the issue with the mission was resolved. Fortunately, he could look forward to an attractive woman to 'comfort' him when he was feeling down. Sasuke was coming up with a new, more intense training schedule. If Naruto, the dead last, was catching up to him, an Uchiha, then he really must have been slacking. He was also pondering how his new Sharingan would affect his abilities, and fighting style. Naruto knew of several things he had to take care of them. One being on how to get int the Yondaime's vault, and another was how to deal with Hinata. In truth, he had been trying to speak to her as little as possible, not because he didn't like being around her, or that she had offended him, but more because he was still trying to figure out how deep his feeling for her were. He knew he didn't love her, after all, he barely knew her. He also knew, however, that he didn't feel nothing for her.

Sakura didn't really have anything to worry about more than how her parents would worry when they heard what had happened with the mission. So she was just thinking about how she could convince Sasuke to notice her. It had become easier to talk to him after Naruto had stopped petering her for a date. Now that she thought about it, why had Naruto stopped bugging her. It's not that she missed it, she just thought it was weird. Being the gossip she was, she wasted no time, "Hey, Naruto, I have a question.", Sakura said, falling into place beside him.

"Yeah, what is it Sakura-chan?", Naruto replied.

'_Well, the chan hasn't gone away._' "Naruto, why have you stopped bothering me as much as you used to?"

"What, do you miss it Sakura? Need to keep all the attention to yourself?", Kakashi asked, eye smiling.

"No! I'm glad it's stopped. I just find it weird. If he stopped doing it, that means that either something really good or really bad happened that he hasn't told us, because he wouldn't just stop, it's not like him. He never gives up, that I can say for certain about him."

"Well, you got him there, he is definitely very persistent.", Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Okay, if he's keeping something a secret, then, as his team, we should know what it is. If we don't it could possibly jeopardize a mission.", He started rubbing his chin, thinking, "Okay, about when did he stop bothering you?"

"Hmm, let's see. I think it was around the time that he graduated from the academy."

"Maybe he just grew up and decided that he didn't like you anymore.", Kakashi tried.

"And what does growing up have to do with not liking me?", Sakura stopped and stared at her sensei, hands on her hips.

"Oh, nothing really, just that some people's taste in my many things change as they grow up, like taste in women for example.", He said waving her off.

"Sure, whatever you say. But still, what could have happened.", then she remembered a certain event that started making her sweat. "I think I know what it is.", she gestured for Kakashi to come over to her. He leaned over and she whispered in his ear. Naruto and Sasuke had stopped as well and were just staring at the two of them.

"You know guys, I could always just tell you if you want to know.", his ears twitched, and a grimace formed on his face. "Sakura, that is not it at all! I thought that we all promised eachother to never talk about that again. It was an unpleasant situation for all three of us."

Kakashi had started snickering. "I actually think she may have something there."

Sasuke was thoroughly confused, "What are you guys talking about? What even around when we graduated could possibly...", an expression of realization appeared on his face. He suddenly grimaced, jumping away from Naruto, "Great, I don't need you going after me too. I already have enough problems with the fangirls."

"I just told you, It's not that!", He yelled.

"Actually, I've heard that it's quite frequently the cause of something like this. Someone accidentally kisses somebody else of their own gender and they realize they're gay. It's especially frequent with a first kiss.", Kakashi said, suppressing his laughter.

"Where did you hear that? Probably from those damn books.", Naruto crossed his arms. "Besides, you'd have to worry more about Sasuke there. For one, he's the one that turns down all the girls chasing after him, and secondly, I'd already kissed someone before that."

Everyone were surprised by the last part, their eyes wide. Kakashi recovered first, "Really, when? And if you kissed eachother, why aren't you two together?"

"Well technically, it was an accident. But then again so was... well, you know.", he said, glancing at Sasuke and shuddering. "Anyway, it happened when we were really young, and I didn't even know her name at the time. Her confessing her feelings is why I stopped going after you Sakura.", He said, hoping they wouldn't ask her identity.

"So, who is this girl, anyone we know? And if she likes you, why haven't you two been going out.", Sakura asked, genuinely happy that Naruto had someone who liked him.

"I'd rather not say who she is, as I don't think she'd appreciate it if her feelings for me became public knowledge. And just because somebody likes me doesn't automatically mean that I like them. I have some standards, come on.", he glared at them. "That's not to say she's below my standards. She's nice, smart, and even prettier than you Sakura.", he quickly said, not wanting to even seem to insult the girl. Naruto's thoughts returned to her, and how they had originally met.

_Flashback  
_

He had just gotten done pulling, in his opinion, the best prank he had ever done. Tomorrow was his first day back at his second year at the academy, and he knew he wouldn't have as much time, between school and training, to do anything like this again. He had snuck into the houses of every single person on the civilian council, stole various items from each house, and put it into another one's house. The items went anywhere from a loaf of bread to a vase, from their glasses, to their underwear. It had taken all day, but he knew it would be worth it. They had to acknowledge him now.

He had stopped to eat at Ichiraku afterward, seeing as how he had skipped lunch, and was on his third bowl before he heard several voices yell out at the same time, reverberating across Konoha, "**_NARUTO!_**", and he burst out laughing, but ended up choking on a noodle. Teuchi hit him in the back, chuckling to himself, "Alright Naruto, what did you do this time?"

"Oh, you'll hear about it, I'm sure. They'll be talking about it for months.", he replied, after he caught his breath. After quickly finishing his bowl and paying, he started running to the Hokage Tower, knowing that they would want to take him there anyway. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by someone, a very nervous, shy, and cute someone.

Hinata had been following him since morning, and witnessed his whole endeavor. She, honestly, had thought that it was very funny. Being in the Hyuga Main Family, she had been to dinner parties at the houses of everyone from the council at least once, so she knew he was doing it to as well. She disliked them. Whenever she was near them, they would always talk down to her, like a little baby, '_I'm eight dammit, not two!_' were the words she wanted to scream out whenever they acted like she was helpless or stupid. Of course, her formal etiquette and crippling shyness prevented that. She was happy though, because her father didn't approve of them either, and would constantly put veiled insults into any conversations he had with them, which she always caught and memorized, and smirked when they didn't catch them.

She had gone into a giggling fit when she heard the Council's yell, clutching her sides. She stopped when she heard Naruto choking, and looked in time to see Teuchi help him out. She sighed in relief, but gasped when she saw the direction he had started heading. Straight toward her! She looked around, trying to find a good place to hide, knowing that she would die in embarrassment if he discovered her watching him. She found nowhere to hide, and had turned back around, panting, to check where he was when something hit her.

Naruto was running towards an alley, his breathing heavy, trying to get to the tower as quickly as possible, so he couldn't give any other ninja the pleasure of escorting him there. He had just turned the corner, when he saw someone standing in his path, turning around towards him. He tried to slow down, but failed, and plowed into her. They fell over onto the ground, in a heap. As they hit the ground, there lips had collided, and as both of them had had their mouth open, their tongues were in eachother's mouth as well. Hinata, as much as she wanted to pass out, wanted to remember the moment far more. Naruto was at first just confused. He hadn't realized what he was doing yet, but he tasted something good, but couldn't tell what it was, so he moved his tongue around. This caused a muffled yelp to come from Hinata. Naruto, his eyes wide, realized what he was doing, and instantly pulled his tongue back into his mouth and pulled his mouth away. He desperately tried to get off of her, it was difficult to tell what was happening in the tangle of limbs as they both tried to right themselves. After they had separated, they sat there staring at eachother.

"I'm really sorry, I should have watched where I was going! And what I did after that, completely uncalled for!", he said, trying to comfort this oddly familiar girl. '_I kissed a girl, they're so weird. But, why did I actually like it? Maybe because her mouth tasted like cinnamon?_'

"N-no, it's fine! I-I should have g-gotten out of your way.", Hinata reassured him. '_I kissed him! I kissed Naruto-kun and I didn't pass out either! This is the best day of my life!_', she screamed inside her head. Naruto was looking her up and down, trying to think why she looked familiar. Hinata noticed this and her blush deepened, "St-stop st-staring at me, i-it's embarrassing.", she said, her hands going up to cover her face.

Naruto blushed when he realized what he had been doing, but couldn't pull his eyes away. She was a little girl, about his size, maybe a bit taller but looking very frail, around the same age. She had short hair. Her hair was an odd bluish color, almost black, a night-sky-like blue. It was the most beautiful hair Naruto had ever seen in his life. She had beautiful lavender eyes, which were different from the white eyes of the rest of her clan. Her eyes seemed kind and and delicate, instead of the usual strong and conceited eyes of most Hyuga. That's when he remembered her, when he had last seen those delicate eyes, but at that time, they were full of pain.

_Flashback (Flashception!)_

Naruto had just turned nine, in fact, today was his birthday. He had been having a great time so far. Sarutobi had brought him a small cake and sat there with him, talking as they both ate a piece. He had also been playing in the playground, with several children. Not long ago, their parents had come along, and, much to every child's displeasure, almost dragged their children home, away from 'The Demon Brat'. Naruto was now sitting in a swing, completely alone, when he heard a whimper. He looked into the nearby group of trees to see a small white fox cub staring at him. '_It looks so lonely, just like me._', Naruto thought. He hopped off of the swing and walked over to the cub, who went up to him and nipped at his pants, "Where's your momma? Did you lose her? I know what it feels like to be alone.", Naruto said. He bent down to pet the fox, but just as the tips of his fingers touched the top of it's head, he felt a small shock. '_Dammit, I hate static!_', he thought.

He watched as the fox started to go into the forest, but looked back at him, "Do you want me to follow?", he asked. And if he didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw the fox nod it's head. He followed the fox for about a minute before he came upon a small clearing, the sight there bringing tears to his eyes. Laying, dead, on the ground, was a white fox, and two more of her cubs. "I'm so sorry, I can't help you, she's dead.", Naruto said, after seeing the fox cub nudge it's mother and siblings, then look back at Naruto, expectantly. It was clear that they had been killed by humans, probably some dumbasses who thought all foxes were evil, demon or not. He sat down cross legged, and the fox curled up onto his lap. He sat there, petting it for a few minutes, before it's ears perked up and it's eyes fixated on a certain point in the distance, which he couldn't possibly have been able to see to.

It leaped from his lap and started speeding off, "Hey wait, where are you going?", Naruto yelled, chasing after it. He was always able to just keep site of the fox, as it weaved between bushes and branches. He quickly started hearing sobs, and was getting curious. Suddenly, the fox stopped and stared at him. The fox then walked into a bush, but when Naruto charged through it, the fox was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in front of him was a group of three boys, who hadn't noticed himself, who were surrounding and berating, on the edge of beating, a young girl. Naruto, his rage boiling over, couldn't stand to see this happen to anyone. It had happened to him more times than he could count, and every time he had just wished that somebody would help him. So that's what he did.

"Knock it off!", Naruto said, puffing out his chest and trying to look as intimidating as a seven year old could. They turned to him in confusion.

"What do you want?", the average one asked who's name was Heikin.

"Hey wait, he's that kid. That kid who's always getting into trouble. That kid everyone hates.", the fat one said, who's name was Shibo.

"Oh, that kid!", the tall one said, who's name was Takai.

"That kid huh?", the Heikin spoke again, and they all started laughing.

"Hey, I'm not 'That Kid'! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm going to be Hokage someday, remember that!"

They all said at once, "Hokage?", then burst out laughing again. Heikin continued, "Some idiot kid like you, could never be Hokage!", and he punched Naruto in the face.

The girl looked up at him with those pale lavender eyes, and her memories of the few times she had seen him before came back to her. She gasped when he was hit.

Seeing Naruto stand back up with a smirk on his face, the smirk left all their faces, "You wanna fight?", Heikin asked.

"You better not or you'll regret it.", Naruto said, forming the hand seal for ram. "Heh, **Clone Jutsu!**", Naruto said, as a puff of smoke covered him. When it cleared all the kids saw was a pathetic excuse for a clone, which just fell over limp onto the ground.

Takai noticed first, "Hey, where'd he go?", before suddenly, all three of them were tackled to the ground. Naruto had moved to the side of them, using the clone and smoke as a distraction, and had tackled Shibo to the ground, causing him to fall on top of Heikin, who had tried to grab Takai, which just caused them both to fall over.

"Hah, I caught you off guard. I'll show you one day, I will be Hokage, believe it!", He started punching Shibo in the face.

Takai had just stood up, and was about to pull Naruto off of his friend, when the little fox cub came out of nowhere and bit him in the leg, "Ahhh, get this thing off of me! Help, it might have rabies!", the kid yelled, trying to get at the cub who just dodged around his kicks and bit into him whenever it got the chance.

Hinata had been watching all of this in awe, amazed by Naruto and his plan. Suddenly, she got up and tried to pull Naruto off of Shibo, "Please, stop it! I'm alright, you can stop now!", she said, tears falling from her eyes. Naruto stopped when the girl grabbed his arm. He looked at her eyes, and knew she would be alright. He got off of the two boys, and pulled the fox up into his arms starting to pet it. The three bullies scrambled up, desperate to get away from the crazy kid and his pet fox.

"Hinata-sama!", called Ko, her personal servant and escort. "Hinata-sama, are you alright?", he asked, reaching her. He looked over to Naruto, his eyes narrowing, "It's that boy!", he said. Naruto took a step towards Hinata, when suddenly Ko's hand flashed out and hit him in the shoulder, causing him, to fall backwards, clutching his shoulder in pain, "You stay away from Hinata-sama, you hear me!", he grabbed Hinata's hand and started dragging her away.

"No wait! He came to help me! He's-", Hinata started, her flow of tears having not stopped yet.

"He's filth, you need to stay away from him!", Ko said, not given Naruto a second glance.

Hinata, however, stared back at him, '_But, he's so nice. And his eyes are so pretty._'

Naruto lay there, staring after them as they walked away, he could just barely feel the fox licking his hand. He closed his eyes, and all went dark.

_End Flashback_

Naruto stood up, "I remember you now, didn't I rescue you from those bullies?", Naruto asked, holding out a hand, offering to help her up.

Hinata thanked him and accepted his help, quickly letting go and backing up a few steps. This caused Naruto to frown. "What's your name?", he asked.

"M-my name is Hinata Hyuga.", she said.

"Nice to meet you Hinata, my name's-", he started, a grin on his face.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I do remember it.", she said.

This caused Naruto to stare at her wide eyed, and his smile to shift into one of surprise, '_Nobody but Jījī-san and Teuchi have ever called my by my real name before. Well, people remember it when they're mad at me._'

Suddenly, they heard his name being called nearby, "Sorry Hinata, gotta run! Maybe we'll meet again sometime soon.", he said running off towards the Hokage Tower, while Hinata stared after him.

The next day, Naruto walked into the classroom. He was in a really foul mood. He had been forced to put everything back where it belonged, and he was basically put under house arrest. He would be fine with that, he had expected nothing less. What really got to him though, was that throughout the entire meeting to decide his punishment, none of the civilian council had spoken his name, always calling him 'boy', 'brat', or just 'him'. He scanned the room, examining all of the other students. His eyes passed right over Hinata. Not because he had forgotten her, but because she was hiding her face, trying to not meet his gaze, and he hadn't noticed she was there.

Hinata had gasped when Naruto walked into the room, and hid her face against the desk, hoping he wouldn't see her. She would be too embarrassed if he brought up their kiss in front of the other new students. She looked using her Byakugan, which she had only recently developed, much to her clans displeasure. Hanabi, who was five years younger than her, at the age of five, had developed it when she was just four. Not only that, but her's wasn't complete yet, and she could barely see the chakra points, and wasn't able to see past 12 meters. She sighed in relief when he walked past her, not even glancing her way, but then took in a sharp breath when he sat next to Sakura, wide grin on his face. As much as she had hoped he wouldn't see her, she would have rather had that happen then him go to another girl.

_Flashback End_

"Fine then, I don't understand why my team has to be so secretive. You never answer any of my questions.", Sakura said, stomping off to Konoha.

Realizing they weren't going to get any more info out of Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke followed after her.

Naruto sighed, "Guys, if you really want to know, I doubt that it will be kept a secret for much longer.", he said, catching up to them.

* * *

A/N: Okay guys, tell me what you think of this story. Was it good, bad, worst thing you've ever read? Tell me, because I'd like to know your opinion whether it's good or bad. Seriously, it seems that the larger my story gets, the less reviews I'm getting, which seems like the opposite of what's supposed to happen. That makes me nervous and think I'm doing something wrong. So please, if there's something you don't like, or if I'm making some sort of mistake that I don't realize, please tell me.

Now, for something completely unrelated to the story, but I just had to put it here. When I was writing this author's note, my mother finally decided on a name for our new puppy. She has decided upon Tobi. Yes Tobi, spelled exactly that way. No, she doesn't watch Naruto, or at least if she does, she does it in secret. No, me nor my brothers influenced her in any way to pick that name. Honestly, I had already been fixed on Sprout as his name. I'm so going to love saying "Tobi's a good boy!", it'll be so awesome. But I digress.

I'll repost the hiatus note in my profile, so that you guys can still read it if you want.

Next chapter will have little to no action, but that's not to say it's not important. It will be a very plotful chapter, resolving some issues that people have asked me about. Ok, see you next time! Until my next update, MarkusK, out!


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